Melody and the Sorceress's Scepter
by TardisBlueMermaid
Summary: A year after her grandfather's mysterious death, Melody discovers stories about her grandfather and the history of Atlantica that can help her understand his death, as well as help her accept her future of becoming queen. Join Melody and her friends on an adventure of mystery, family, and adventure as she fights to reach the truth.
1. Prologue

**(A/N- It's official. I've bitten off more than I can chew. I still have Discoveries of a Little Mermaid to finish, which I know I just started, but this story idea has been jumping around in my head for the past month and I just had to start it. What I think I'm gonna do is try and work on both at the same time with this being my priority because it doesn't take much to write a one-shot and get it out in a day every now and then. I have no idea how fast I'll be able to update anything since school starts back up next week which means craziness, but anyway enjoy the prologue! I hope for the actual chapters to be longer than this.)**

* * *

 **Prologue**

I seemed so young back then. I was so young and selfish for sixteen. I wouldn't have been if only I knew the things I know now. Perhaps then I wouldn't have been so selfish, although, I guess I wasn't actually selfish until recently. Back then I was just afraid.

After my grandfather's death I always looked back onto this memory and wondered how life could be so unfair. It wasn't until later that I realized that it wasn't being unfair; it was being helpful, just not in the nicest way.

"All things happen for a reason," my grandfather once told me. It had been during this memory that he uttered those words that I could never understand until later, but I guess no one ever understands them till the moment is right.

We were at the cove, a place that still holds painful memories of my grandmother's death, but everyone tries to only think of the good ones before her death, but no one tried harder than my grandfather. It took a lot of strength for him to come back after the cove was once again deemed a place for merpeople to visit shortly after my parents' marriage.

My grandfather and I, still in my human form, were sitting on the rocks, casually talking. It was just me and him that day with no other family members. Of course there were other merpeople there, but I remember none of them and only the conversation between us because it was one that I held in my heart, and forever will, for the rest of my life.

"How are you and Elliot doing?" my grandfather casually asked. Elliot was the boy I was courting at the time and who I married not even a year later.

"We're good. I think things are going to end well with us. I really love him, grandfather," I said and meant it.

"Good. I'm glad to see you're finally settling down with a nice, young boy," he commented. "Not long after this will you become queen, and it helps to have someone by your side when ruling."

I remember frowning at this moment. "I don't know if he'll be able to help me other than politically."

"Why not?" he asked, although I'm pretty sure he knew why.

"I just don't have it in me to be a good queen, grandfather. I mean, how can I when I barely can be a good princess? I don't know if the people even like me. Sometimes I wonder if they only put up with the idea of me as becoming queen because they hope they'll get Elliot as prince consort to the kingdom."

"Melody, I highly doubt that's the case. Every kingdom has their doubts about each new ruler they get because they're afraid of change. They don't know how the new ruler will be. Give them a year after you become queen and I'm sure they'll like you then. They just have to adjust. They don't hate you," he said, but I was sure that wasn't true.

"But I'll never make a good queen!" I protest.

"It's not about being a good queen. It's about being a good ruler. Etiquette and royalty doesn't matter. You only have to make sure you lead your people and do whatever they need, and I know you're not fond of balls and perfect etiquette, but I know you have what it takes to lead your people well. They don't need a queen. They need someone pure hearted and self-sacrificing," he explained.

At that moment, I didn't understand what he was saying, probably because I didn't want to, but even if I did, I'd never understand the deeper meaning behind it I only found out five years later.

However, I always knew that my grandfather was one of the greatest rulers of Atlantica, so I was wise enough to ask him for help—help with how to become a perfect ruler.

"Do you promise that you'll be there for me when I become queen to support me? I need your advice along with my parents'. I want you to help me through it, step by step. Promise?" I asked.

He sighed, but I took no notice of it. It wouldn't have meant anything to me then anyway. At that moment I had no idea what was going through his mind and the sorrow that he must have felt. All I wanted was help because I was afraid.

"I promise," he finally said, and even though years later I spent months hating him for promising, I thank him now because now I know that life isn't meant to be fair.


	2. Chapter 1: Frustrations

**(A/N- Okay, chapter one. Honestly I'm not a big fan of this chapter because it's more of just an intro chapter I guess, but it's still very important, so I had to put it in. Enjoy!)**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Frustrations**

 _Five years later..._

Dinner was a nightmare.

It was usually the best part of my day when my family can just get together and have a nice meal after a hectic day, but today they just wouldn't let the matter go.

"Melody," my dad said and I looked up from my food, "What's the first thing you want to do when you become queen?"

It was a simple question; one that I'd been getting asked quite often recently by many people, but none of them could sense my change in mood better that my own parent and husband, so they quickly took notice of my shift in posture and sigh.

"I don't know," I grumbled, pushing my food around on my plate. Typically I would respond with something I believe in, but tonight I just wasn't in the mood to talk about the subject.

"Melody, you need to start thinking about becoming queen more seriously now. People are going to start asking you this a lot more now," my mom said.

I sighed again. It's not like people have been asking me that since I first began my training to become queen at the age of 13.

"Mel, you're at the peak of your training now. You're almost done. It won't be long until you take the throne," my dad tried to reason with me.

"Well, it's not like I'll be taking the throne _that_ soon. You and Mom still have years left to rule," I exclaimed.

"Honey, we're not that young anymore. Just look at your dad. He's already starting to gray and he's only in his forties. It's a stressful job that we can't do forever, and we hate that we have to pass it down to you, but at some point you're going to have to take up that responsibility," my mom said.

"And accept the fact that you're going to have to become queen," I heard my husband say softly from besides me.

I turned around and glared at him. I hated that he said that. I hated that he knew that, but mainly, I hated that it was true.

Elliot figured out pretty quickly after first meeting me that I didn't want to become queen and my parents knew that I didn't want to become queen when they realized I hated being a princess, but I didn't always just not want to become queen. It just wasn't something I looked forward to.

I always had my doubts about myself, but it wasn't until recently that I started dreading the fact that I had to become queen. I just didn't have the support and encouragement that I used to have since he left me.

He left me. My grandfather just left me after _promising_ me that he'd be there for me to give me advice as I become queen. He told me he'd be there for me to help me, step by step into the role of a ruler.

It's not like I didn't like my parents' advice and my husband's encouragement. I greatly appreciated everything they told me. My parents were probably the wisest rulers to rule the kingdom, so they had great advice. It just wasn't the same as my grandfather's. His advice was something special to me.

It was strange, though. He was so healthy, even though he was getting up there age wise, but the one morning he just didn't wake up. They said he died of natural causes, but that just didn't settle right with me. My grandfather wasn't the type of man to die of natural causes when he was still perfectly healthy.

The whole kingdom mourned him for weeks, but no one more than my family, especially my mother and aunts. They were his daughters after all.

It hit me hard to, although I wasn't only sad that he was gone, I was angry at him for just leaving me.

I focused my attention back on Elliot. "I _am_ accepting the fact that I have to become queen," I protested even though I was well aware that it wasn't true.

He gave me a saddened look, the one he always gave me when he felt sorry for me. It was the same expression he held on his face as I mourned the immediate death of my grandfather.

"Darling, we both not that's not true. Why don't you want to become queen?" He asked.

I sighed again. "It's because I know I won't make a good queen. How can I when I can't even make a good princess? And the people already know I'll make a terrible queen. They hate me."

Everything my grandfather had told me, like how any kingdom would be afraid of a new leader, or how you don't have to make a good queen you just have to make a good leader, went down the drain once he died. How could I still believe that? When he died, any sort of hope I had managed to conjure up all went away.

"Melody, the people don't hate you. They adore you," Elliot tried to say.

"And besides, if they did hate you, they'd be throwing riots right now," my father added in.

"They're only accepting of me because of Elliot. I can guarantee that if I hadn't married him the whole kingdom would completely hate me right now. They just like the fact that he's from an allied kingdom and a great royal line," I argued back.

"You know that's not the case, Melody. They don't even care for _me_ that much. They-," Elliot started off before I cut him off.

"No!" I exclaimed and rose out of by seat. "They don't like me and I don't want to be queen, but I have to because I was born into this stupid life. Yes, I _want_ to be a good queen, but I can't. I'm not capable enough to. I—I just can't!"

And with that I threw my napkin on the table and began to leave. I heard my parents call for me to come back, but I didn't listen to them, and they knew well enough to just let me go. What was worse was the fact that I could almost see that saddened look on Elliot's face.

* * *

I went to the one spot in the world that could calm me down; the shore. I shouldn't have, though, because everyone knew that it was my favorite place to go when I desperately needed to calm down, so it didn't take long for my faithful husband to find me.

I was sitting on the sand watching the sunset over the darkening sea when I heard his footsteps. He sat down on the sand besides me, knees up to his chest and staring at his shoes for a minute before he looked up and spoke.

"You know you're not a failure, right Mels. You're a wonderful woman. You make a great princess, a great wife, and you'll make a great mother once we have children. You know that right?" he asked gently.

"I know," I replied. It came out as almost a whisper. I was just so spent.

"You'll make a great queen," he said as if it was a well known fact.

All I could do was simply nod once. I didn't believe it myself, but Elliot sure did, and I didn't want to argue anymore.

"Why don't you believe in yourself?" he asked, still staring out at the sea with me.

Why didn't I? I had no idea. I had plenty of support even without my grandfather. All I had to do was win over the people's affections and keep the kingdom prosperous, which wasn't hard since my parents had done such a great job. I should believe in myself, but for some reason I didn't. I just didn't know why.

But I did know that I was afraid and that I couldn't do it yet.

"I'm not ready," I simply said.

He put an arm around me. "I think you are. You just haven't realized it yet, but you have your parents' and my help. We'll get you through it and you'll do great."

I nodded again as I rested my head on his shoulder and moved closer to him. I felt bad. Elliot had heard me say that the kingdom only liked me because of marrying him for as long as we had been married. I wondered if he thought that that's why I married him, but that wasn't true. I loved him.

I never thought that I could love someone so much until I first saw him. We met at a ball, and once I laid my eyes on him, I wondered how I never took notice of him before. I don't know why, but the second I saw Elliot I knew I loved him. Maybe it was because his brown eyes were so full of love and hope, or maybe I loved how his brown, royal hair wasn't perfect.

Past his appearance, though, I was completely smitten by him after the first few minutes we talked. He cared so much about what I had to say and he listened to my frustrations and interests. It was wonderful. I was daydreaming about meeting him again.

I had no doubts that I loved him, but I wondered if he did.

"You know I love you, right?" I told him. "I love you more than anything. I didn't marry you because of the kingdom. I married you because I love you _so_ much. My life would be incomplete without you. Even if my people hated you, I would've married you. I-"

He put a finger to my lips and planted a kiss on the top of my head. "I love you, too, Mels."

I smiled up at him as he stood up and extended a hand to help me to my feet. "Come on. Let's go to bed. It's been a long day," he said.


	3. Chapter 2: From Foes to Friends

**Chapter 2: From Foes to Friends**

The next morning I was making my way from breakfast to my room. I had nothing planned, but my husband and parents were busy as ever. I would normally offer my help, but I thought it best to give myself a little time to myself. They didn't push the subject on me during breakfast, but I wanted to avoid it coming up again. Instead, I figured I could catch up on the book I was reading.

As I walked down one of the palace's many long hallways, I couldn't help but to stop and stare at one of the portraits on the wall. It was one of my parents on their coronation day. They looked so happy. Even though they just got one of the biggest responsibilities put on the shoulders, they were still happy because they were together.

I remembered when I was little and my parents would be away on business, I would always find comfort in looking at one of their portraits. I often looked at family portraits, or ones of old ancestors, but my favorites were this one and the one on their wedding day. They were happiest in those, and as a kid, I found the most comfort in seeing my parents happy.

If one was to look at this picture and then go and look at the one on their wedding day, it would be hard to tell which day was the best for my mother since she looked equally happy in both of them, but obviously, her wedding day was the best.

In their coronation portrait, my father was almost forcing a smile. Because I knew him my whole life, it wasn't hard to tell that he was nervous. The only reason he was able to put on a smile was because he was holding his faithful wife's hand.

According to my mother, my father was the most worried out of the two because he didn't want to let everyone down. She claimed that she wasn't that worried. She knew that she had my father to help her through it. She was simply excited to become queen, which made sense.

They say that there has never been a queen in all of Denmark's history who has been so involved in her country as my mother. They say that there hasn't been a queen who has been as caring and kind towards her people as my mother, and that's because my mother is the kindest person I know. I hoped to live up to that kindness.

"Princess Melody!" I heard someone call for me. I turned around to find a guard walking towards me.

"Your Highness," he began, bowing, "you have a visitor in your office who wishes to see you right away."

"A visitor? Who?" I asked. I wasn't expecting anyone all day.

"Mr. Jonathan Jensen. He claims to be a friend of the family," the guard told me.

 _Jonathan Jensen?_ The name didn't ring a bell, but I figured I would go and see him anyway to see what he wanted.

I nodded to the guard and he led the way to my office. During the whole walk to my office I kept trying to place his name, but just couldn't. I was starting to wonder if he actually was a friend of the family.

The guarded opened the door to my office for me and I told him to wait outside the door.

Jonathan was sitting at a seat in front of my desk, waiting. When he saw me, he stood up and took a deep bow. He was an old man, most likely in his 60's, with gray hair, but his face looked very friendly. Just by looking at him, something told me I could trust him.

"Jonathan Jensen, but you can just call me John. It's an honor to meet you, Your Highness," he said as he rose back up after bowing.

"The pleasure is mine," I returned the greeting as I took my seat at my desk. When he sat back down I continued. "So, you say that you're a friend of the family? I've never met you before and I don't believe my parents have ever mentioned you."

"Well, I suppose they wouldn't have. They don't know me either. I'm a friend of your grandfather," he said.

That struck me hard at the mention of my grandfather, but I think any sad feelings that rose up in my chest were quickly diminished by curiosity and confusion. How did this man, more importantly, this _human_ , have a close enough relationship with my grandfather to be his friend?

"Friend?" I asked.

"Yes," John replied, "you grandfather and I go way back to when we were only kids."

"What? That's impossible! My grandfather hated humans. It took years until my mother married my father for him to accept them," I said. How on earth could this man claim to be my grandfather's friend when he didn't even know that he absolutely despised humans for the longest time?

"Ah, yes. Well, I was that one exception. You see, we met as kids. Your grandfather had yet to fully see the harshness of the world. He had yet to even comprehend it all. We both did," John explained. "Oh, might I add that I'm very sorry for your loss. Your grandfather... he was a good man."

I took a moment before replying. He gave me a lot to think about, and while I wasn't sure if I should believe him yet, I wanted to listen to him. "Well, if he was your friend, then I'm sure you know how much we all miss him."

He nodded.

"But why hasn't he told me of you before?" I couldn't keep myself from asking.

"He wanted you to find out when the time was right," John answered.

I sighed. That sounded like my grandfather alright. "I have to ask you to explain. Can you do that?"

"Indeed I can."

* * *

 _John shifted in his seat a moment as if he was trying to figure out the best way to begin and then said:_

I come from a long line of bakers. Four generations of my family were successful bakers. My parents, however, were not the greatest. They could bake the most delicious pastries, but they were not good with dealing with the finances of it all.

One night when I was a kid, just ten perhaps, they were fighting about this, like they always did, and whenever they fought, I would go down the beach to escape it all. I was usually alone, but that night I saw a boy sitting in the shallows of the sea, staring at the sky as if he was stargazing.

 _What a peculiar place to sit,_ I thought. The night was fairly cool, too. I couldn't guess why someone would want to sit in the water on such a cool night.

"Hi!" I called out the boy. I had only meant to greet him, not scare him, but he coiled back as if I were a monster about to pounce on him.

"Please don't hurt me," I heard him whispered. He was still too far away, as I was still standing on the sand and he was now even further into the sea. The water was almost up to his mid chest, but even in the darkness of the night I could tell that the mess of hair on his head was a shade of auburn and that he looked afraid.

"I won't hurt you," I said, edging closer to the end of the shore. "I just want to talk to you. Maybe we can become friends."

"But… you're a human," he said. I was taken back. Wasn't he human too?

"Yeah," I shrugged, "aren't you?"

He sat still a moment before slowing beginning to crawl up to the shore. It was then that I saw his blue tail and realized that he was a merman. Well, I guess the correct term would be a merboy.

He sat on the sand next to me. "I'm not supposed to talk to humans. My dad says they can be dangerous," he explained.

You see, when your grandfather was a boy, and even before then, contact between the merworld and humans wasn't forbidden, it just wasn't encouraged. However, according to your grandfather, merpeople would go up to the surface quite often, they just made sure that they weren't seen. It wasn't until your grandmother, Queen Athena—she was a lovely lady. She's missed as well—died that you grandfather put a ban on the surface.

"I promise I won't hurt you," I told him. There was another moment of awkward silence before I asked, "What are you doing out so late at night?"

"My parents are fighting. I thought I could come up here and look at the stars. I don't get to look at them nearly enough. By the time I go back they should be done fighting," he explained.

"Oh, my parents are fighting, too. Our bakery isn't doing so well, and I guess they're just taking it out on each other. They do that sometimes," I explained.

You grandfather began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" I asked. I didn't that any of this was funny, but here was a boy who had fighting parents, too, and he was laughing at me. I thought for sure he would understand.

"It's just that the reason for your parents fighting is nothing compared to why mine are," he said.

"Well, why are they fighting?"

"My grandpa Neptune died, and a long time ago he imprisoned an evil sorceress when he should have killed her for treason. Now that he's dead, my parents are arguing over whether or not to kill her. My father, King Poseidon, thinks that they should execute her because she's known for trouble, but my mother thinks that it wouldn't be fair to just kill her after sentencing her to prison," he explained.

"Wow," I began. "Wait. If your father is a king, does that mean you're a prince?"

"Yep!" he exclaimed proudly and extended out his hand. "Prince Triton. Next in line to be King of Atlantica."

I took his hand and shook it, although I guess I should have been bowing in the presence of royalty, but your grandfather didn't seem to care. "Jonathan Jensen, but I just like being called John."

"Nice to meet you, John," you grandfather said.

And just like that we became friends. We would meet down by the shore at that very same spot that we met every so often at night, so no one would see your grandfather, and we would just talk. He told me some things of his world, and I told him some of mine, although he wasn't that interested in the human world as I thought he would be.

We mainly just talked about our family, school, or just life in general, and we continued that for years. He told me everything, and I did too.

I was the only human friend he had because even though he knew I was nice, he wasn't sure about the rest of us. Sometimes, I think he only trusted me because we met as kids. Back then, it didn't matter who was human and who was a mer; we were both simply kids.

Eventually, your grandmother came along. Your grandfather loved her with all of his heart, and she just the same. Apparently, since she was a little girl, she was fascinated with land and the surface, but she was scared of humans as well.

He told her of me and finally convinced her to come and meet me. We became a trio of great friends and those were the best days of our lives, even after your grandparents married, became King and Queen of Atlantica, and had seven daughters, they still made time to come and visit me.

However, those good times sadly ended once your grandmother was killed.

One day your grandfather just stopped coming around, but I had no idea why. It wasn't until weeks after your grandmother had passed away that he came. It wasn't difficult to tell that her death hit him hard. She wasn't only his lover, but she was his best friend; an even better friend than me.

"Your kind killed my Athena!" he screamed at me.

"I'm sorry," I tried to say. "I'm sorry. I miss her, too."

"No, you don't! You're a human. How could you have any feelings?! It's because of you and your kind that she's dead! Goodbye, Jonathan."

And with that, he left. I didn't see him for years. I didn't even know about the surface and music ban or how he isolated himself from his daughters.

It wasn't until your parents became engaged that he met with me again. He told me that he acted too harshly and didn't mean any of it. He was just grieving too much, and I understood.

I accepted his apology and we continued our secret meetings at night. We told no one of them, even though it didn't matter anymore if someone knew. That's why you've never heard of me, and even though our meetings weren't as frequent as they were when we were younger, it was still nice to meet up with an old friend to tell everything to. That's how I know the stories of your grandfather's past that he never told you.


	4. Chapter 3: Reunions

**(A/N- This chapter doesn't quite continue right where we left off. You'll get to more of the stories John told Melody later on in the story. They'll come up again when they're important. The big thing with this story is the backstories. They're really important.)**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Reunions**

 _Dear Mom, Dad, & Elliot,_

 _I'm going to Atlantica for a bit. Don't worry about me or how I regained my mermaid form,_

 _just trust that I will be safe because I will. I won't be in any danger._

 _I hope to be back soon. I just need to sort a few things out._

 _Love you all,_

 _Melody_

As soon as I said goodbye to John I left the note for my family on my office desk. They'd find it eventually. I didn't want to worry them, but I had to do this, and I needed to do it on my own. I knew what I had to do, and I wasn't about to let anyone get in my way. Well, I wasn't exactly sure what to do, but at least I had a pretty good idea.

I kept in mind what John had told me about my grandfather, the Sorceress, and her scepter as I made my way down to the beach trying not to be seen. The less people who saw me, the easier it would be to keep this more or less a secret.

As soon as my feet touch my second home I put on the ring John gave me. My grandfather had foreseen that I would need a way to turn back into a mermaid without the power of the trident so the rest of the family wouldn't know about my journey. He had known that I would want to make this discovery on my own―that it was just meant for me―so he made the ring before his death and gave it to John to give to me when the time was right.

As long as I was in the sea I would be a mermaid, and when I was back on dry land I could turn back into a human, but had to make sure I didn't lose it. My grandfather only made one, and without it, I couldn't change my form. I would be stuck in which every form I lost it in, unless I when to my Aunt Attina, now the queen of Atlantica, for help.

I smiled as the pearl ring began to work its magic, forming my legs together to create my salmon colored tail. It was such a wonderful feeling to become a mermaid again. It was a part of me that I always missed. The last time I had been in this form was a year ago for my grandfather's funeral.

I made my way to Atlantica. I managed to remember the way only because of the few times I had visited with my mother, but it wasn't a path I knew perfectly just yet. I hadn't visited nearly as much as I wished I had while my grandfather was still alive.

It wasn't long until I was the golden city appeared in the bright, blue water in front of me. An arch stood proud in front of the city marking the entrance with _Atlantica_ written at the top. The spectacular view always managed to take my breath away just like it did the very first time I saw it.

I hoped to get what I needed and get out without anyone seeing me. I didn't need anyone asking any questions of how or why I was there. Sometimes my aunts and uncles could be just as protective and worried about me as my parents.

"Melody!"

I cringed. I recognized the voice to be from one of my younger cousins, River. She was followed by her younger brother, Adrian.

"Oh my Neptune! What are you doing here? How in all of the seven seas did you get here?" exclaimed River.

"Um, it's a long story," I said, hoping for them to just carry on, but knowing them, they wouldn't.

"Can you tell us?" Adrian asked. "Oh! Can go and get the rest of our cousins so you can tell them, too?"

I rolled my eyes at my fourteen–year–old cousin. He couldn't do that. I needed to be as discreet as possible so questions wouldn't be asked. I didn't think my grandfather would want everyone to learn of his secret.

"Hey, listen," I rested my hand on his shoulder, "how about this just be our little secret, okay?"

"But how do you get here?" River asked, always being the logical thinker. "Only Aunt Attina can turn you into a mermaid with the trident, and she didn't change you, did she?" she placed her hands on her hips as she waited for my answer.

I sighed. "No, she didn't, but listen. I'm kind of in a hurry right now, but it you don't tell _anyone_ I was here, I promise I'll tell you the whole story when I'm back, okay?" I said. I was sure that by the end of all of the craziness I could come up with a false story to tell them.

River and Adrian looked at each other as if they were sharing the same thoughts.

"Fine," River said. "We'll see you later."

I waved them off as I swam away as fast as I could. The first thing I had to do was find Alex. I needed his help.

* * *

I found Alex maybe ten minutes later. He had gotten a place of his own since I last saw him for my grandfather's funeral. At that time he had been living with his parents, Urchin and Gabriella, two old friends of my mother.

I knew Alex would be the only person I could enlist for help. He would hopefully be an expert on the subject. Plus, he was a good friend of mine, one I could always trust.

I often wondered after we had first met if we might end up together, but after awhile we realized that it couldn't work. We started to slowly drift our own separate ways. Anyways, I knew I would be stuck on land since I had no other siblings to take the throne and he would be stuck in sea.

I knocked on the door. As soon as he opened the door and recognized my familiar face he pulled me into a big hug. There was still no doubt that he was one of the best friends I ever had.

"What are you doing back here?" he asked, smiling, letting me in.

I explained to him about how I got back. I told him of John and how he told me of the Sorceress and her scepter. I explained to him that there was a curse, but John didn't tell me much about it. He didn't know much, either. That was the part of my grandfather's past that I had to figure out. I had to go and find the Sorceress myself to find the answers I was looking for.

"And you think that I can help how?" Alex asked.

"Alex, you've lived here your whole life. You must know more about her than I do. I don't even know where the cave my grandfather banished her in is, but you do, right?" I asked.

"Yeah, I do," Alex began. "Everyone in Atlantica knows where it is. We also know that we're supposed to stay clear of it."

"Oh, come on. All we have to do is asked her a few questions, and then we can be off," I explained.

"But what if she escapes?" Alex asked. I didn't remember him being this much of a wimp before.

"Alex, she can't get out. My grandfather put a spell on her so she can't ever escape. We'll be fine," I reassured him.

He thought a few moments as if this was a tough decision, but I knew that deep down he had a soft heart and had already made the decision to help me the second I asked for it.

"Fine," he rolled his eyes and laughed. "But first, let me grab a book about her that might help us."


	5. Chapter 4: The Sorceress and her Scepter

**Chapter 4: The Sorceress and her Scepter**

Little is known about the Scepter's origin, not even Alex nor possibly my grandfather knew it, but it's part of ancient history, as old as the ocean itself.

No one knows how it came about or where it was before it ended up in the Sorceress's kingdom, but it's not surprising that it was very powerful, possibly even almost as powerful as the trident.

Perhaps one shouldn't even think of comparing the scepter to the trident, for they were two different objects, both unique in their own ways. They could each do things the other couldn't.

The scepter lingered in the Sorceress's kingdom for centuries; passed down from ruler to ruler in what might have been the only home it ever knew until it got to the Sorceress. That's when it got lost.

No one knew where it got to. It was lost and would not be found again until I found it, and while its history it uncertain, the power and legend it held were not.

* * *

The Sorceress is a powerful being that is known throughout Atlantica's history because of the past encounters with her, but few know of her story before coming to this city. John told me a few things of her and Alex was one who knew the basics of her story, so I learned it from him and what he didn't know we learned from the book he brought along.

She wasn't a sorceress to begin with. In fact, she started off just like anyone else, a normal person. Well, she wasn't all that normal. She was the future queen of her kingdom.

The princess was good hearted up until she was a young teen. She enjoyed laughing and smiling and helping her kingdom. She was willing to take on the task of being queen, but in reality, she had no idea of what was truly to come of her becoming queen.

Perhaps it was when her parents tragically died before she began her training. How they died is not known, but however it happened, it left her heart broken in two and feeling betrayed.

She was angry at being left alone, for they were the only family she had left. Something in her changed. The princess was no longer happy and smiling. She appointed one of her father's wisest advisors to rule the kingdom until she was of age.

As he was ruling the country—making it one of the most prosperous kingdoms to rise under the sea thanks to the help of the scepter—she began her training, but the more she thought about it, the more she hated the idea of someone else ruling her kingdom. Some say that she believed that she thought the kingdom was all she had left of her parents.

The young princess wanted the kingdom back, but this time fully under her control, so she plunged into her studies, trying to finish them as quick as she could. It was at this point that she realized the struggles of having to become queen. To make things worse, she had no one to encourage her, although most likely she did. She just didn't want to see them.

She didn't take her training seriously. The princess lost all hope and faith with herself, and that's what caused her to be the hateful queen she became.

She fired her advisors first. Some even think that she killed them, a theory that Alex strongly believed.

Then, the newly crowned queen made life miserable for her people. She was the exact opposite of a queen than what her mother was. It wasn't long until the prosperous kingdom was soon a living hell.

However, if she wouldn't have done what she had done, the kingdom could possibly still be here today. With every horrible ruler comes a rebellion. If they would have overthrown her, the kingdom could have fallen into better hands. The people were so close to a rebellion―they had yet to rebel, but they were close―and that's when the queen gave away the one thing that was keeping the kingdom alive, the scepter.

It kept the kingdom alive with its powers. As long as it was in the kingdom it would supply magic throughout. It helped crops grow, kept enemies out, and gave the people hope.

But she just gave it away. The queen of the kingdom gave away its only hope without a second thought.

You see, without the love and support she needed, she turned not only cruel, but selfish, so when an enemy king offered her part of his kingdom along with any jewels and riches she wanted in exchange for the scepter, she gave it away because she stopped caring about her people.

People who don't know the truth behind the legend of the scepter often don't understand how she didn't want the powerful scepter. After all, it was what was keeping the kingdom safe and prosperous for a while, and a prosperous kingdom would mean more power for the queen. However, there's more to the scepter than just its power to protect the kingdom.

It had the power to protect itself.

It could protect itself from the misuse of a harsh and selfish ruler. If it didn't trust the ruler, it wouldn't let it hold it. It would burn the ruler's hand until they let go, and that's what it did to the Sorceress's hands whenever she tried to hold it.

And what good to her was a scepter she couldn't hold?

She was angry at it for not letting her hold it when it had left her parents, grandparents, and even generations before them hold it. She was still angry about her parents' death, too, so she willingly gave it to the king without knowing the trick he had just played on her.

It took no more than three fateful days for the kingdom to fall. Without the scepter's magic to protect it from enemy invasions, the king and his army were able to successfully and easily invade the kingdom.

Few people escaped. Nearly half were brutally killed while the other half were enslaved. Those who did make it out alive never spoke of their old home again.

The queen was one of those people to escape. She put herself before her people in order to do so, but it wasn't like there was anything she could do for her subjects at that point of destruction.

She fled to start a new life, and that's when she began experimenting with magic and truly become a sorceress.

This is only the beginning of her story, and much of it is actually irrelevant. The important part is simply just the story of the scepter itself.

After it was given to the king, he took it back to his kingdom, only able to hold it because even though the trick he played was wrong, he still technically had good intentions for his own people. He was a decent ruler, or maybe, the scepter was just glad to be away from the Sorceress.

However, over the following years, it vanished. The story of how it disappeared was lost to history. Perhaps there were thieves, or maybe the king lost control of it. One speculation was that someone even tried to steal it back for the Sorceress.

No matter what happened to it, though, the former queen vowed on all of the seven seas that she would one day get her hands on the scepter and gain full power of it like she was once supposed to.


	6. Chapter 5: An Empty Cave

**(A/N- I want to thank everyone for your thoughts and reviews! They always mean so much to me, and I hope I can repay all of you by creating a story that you'll love.)**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: An Empty Cave**

Alex and I continued along the path to the Sorceress's cave. My grandfather had chosen a cave far out on the outskirts of Atlantica to banish her in which gave us plenty of time to catch up.

"So," I began with a smile, "when are you planning on proposing to Emily?"

Emily was the girl Alex was currently seeing. I've seen them with each other a few times and they were absolutely adorable together. It was like they were meant for each other, and I wanted my best friend to be happy.

"Um," he began, rubbing the back of his neck. "I hope to do it soon. I just haven't, um," he stuttered.

I finished for him. "Found the courage yet?"

"Yeah, that." he confessed. "I really want to spend the rest of my life with her. I love her that much, Melody. I'm just scared that she'll reject me."

I stopped swimming and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Alex, she loves you. I'm sure she wants to be with you forever, and I'm sure it's normal to be afraid of proposing. Even Elliot admitted that he was nervous when it came to proposing to me. Any sensible man would if they truly loved their girl. Fear is normal, but you can't let it stop you from doing what you're meant to do."

"Says the girl who's afraid to become queen," Alex mumbled.

"Hey! If you were the future ruler of a kingdom, you'd be scared, too. It's not just me," I exclaimed. Alex knew about my fears, but I wished I never told him. It would be nice to talk to someone who would never press the subject on me.

"But it's like you said, Melody. You can't let it hold you back from what you're meant to do, and clearly you're meant to become queen. You're obviously fit for it. I'm sure you'll make a great queen one day," he said.

"Whatever," I mumbled and began swimming again. "How much further until we reach the cave?"

Alex sighed. He knew better than to press the subject on me too much, so he dropped the subject. "We should be hitting it any minute now."

We continued swimming a few more paces and then the cave appeared in the distance. It was eerie looking. You could just tell that their was someone evil tucked away in there. The cave was pitch black inside, which seemed to scare away almost every other sea creature, except for the few stray fish that swam near, but still not too close.

"What now?" Alex asked. "How do we get her attention without going in?"

I picked up a rock and tossed it in.

 _Ping!_

Another one.

 _Ping!_

Alex tossed one in too.

 _Ping!_

Still nothing. No sorceress appeared. You'd think she'd be angry at us for throwing rocks at her.

Alex shrugged at me. "Maybe she's just in the back and the rocks didn't hit her,"

I swam closer to the opening. "Hello?" I called.

My voice echoing was the only thing to be heard. Where was she? She was here the last time my mother had encountered her.

"If you're looking for the Sorceress she's not in there no more," a voice said from behind us.

Alex and I jumped at the voice and turned around to face it. It was a green, old fish.

"Who are you?" I asked. "And how could the Sorceress not be in there? It's impossible for her to leave. My grandfather put a curse on her so she couldn't."

"Wait. You're Triton's granddaughter? Hm, let me guess. You're Ariel's daughter, aren't you. She the one who cost me my position as the royal treasurer. I'm sure you heard about me. I'm Glowfish," he introduced himself.

I nodded. I recalled the story my mother had told me from when she was younger about the time my grandfather had turned young again thanks to Glowfish and the sorceress. I've been thinking about that story a lot lately.

"But how could she have escaped. It's _impossible!_ " I exclaimed, more interested in the fact that the Sorceress had escaped when she shouldn't have than dealing with this otherwise unimportant fish.

"Oh, I don't know," Glowfish shrugged. "Some merman came along with this shiny, stick thingy. He waved it around a bit and somehow managed to free her like it was nothing. She followed after him. I decided I had enough of her and stayed behind. I'm too old to be dealing with her anymore."

"Wait. A shiny, stick thingy? Did it look like a scepter?" Alex asked, clearly making the same connection as me. The Sorceress had gotten her hands on the scepter again.

"Yeah, yeah. It was a scepter," Glowfish confirmed.

"Who was this merman?" I asked. How are on earth did this guy manage to find the scepter when it should be impossible?

"How am I supposed to know? All he said was that he was here to free the sorceress. Then, the second after he worked his magic he left without the sorceress. She went off in a hurry to catch up with him. He didn't say anything else, though, not even his name," Glowfish explained.

"How long ago was this?" I asked. Maybe we could catch up to them, but I just wanted to deal with the Sorceress while she was stuck in the cave and couldn't do anything. This was not part of the plan.

"About fifteen minutes ago maybe, but if you want to catch up to them you better hurry. They were both in a rush. I wouldn't be surprised if they're both completely out of Atlantica already. They went that way," Glowfish pointed.

Alex and I shared a look before turning around and began to swim in the direction Glowfish pointed.

"Thank you!" I quickly called out behind me.

"No problem. Hey, since I helped you out so much do you think you can give me that scepter if you get it?" I heard Glowfish beg.

Alex and I simply ignored him. Some people never change their greedy ways.


	7. Chapter 6: The Prince

**Chapter 6: The Prince**

In no time we were already out of Atlantica's borders trying to catch up to the Sorceress and the mysterious man who currently held the scepter. Neither Alex nor I said a word as we sped through the clear, blue water dodging colorful shoals of fish trying to reach them before anything bad could happen.

We swam on, but still there was no sign of the Sorceress or man. I wasn't sure what to do if we had lost them. I had no clue where they could be and if we could even find them again. If she was gone, that would mean the answers to my grandfather's death would be gone too.

"Look over there!" Alex pointed out. I was glad to see just over the seabed a mermaid and merman. They must have been the ones we were looking for.

Alex and I stayed low to the sand as we swam as close as we could get and hid behind a rock, trying to hear their conversation without being seen.

"Give me the scepter! It's rightfully mine," the mermaid said. She must have been the Sorceress hidden away in her mermaid form. While she was well over a hundred years, she looked to only be about thirty thanks to her powerful magic.

"No. Neptune only knows what you would do with it. I'm keeping it out of your hands," the merman said.

"Then why did you free me to begin with?" the Sorceress questioned, obviously done with him.

"You said that if I freed you, you would lift the curse that had been put on my family," he replied. "I freed you and that's that."

"That's not the way it works. You also have to give me the scepter. That's the only reason I wanted to be freed."

The man thought for a moment. He must have realized he had been tricked. "I can't do that. I'm not an idiot. As much as I want this curse gone, I won't let you get your evil hands on it."

"Oh, just give me the scepter already!" she exploded.

Just then at her outburst, a light shot out of the scepter and right towards the Sorceress. She managed to duck her head before it hit her. The Sorceress stayed dazed for only a second as she took one look at the merman and his shocked expression before lunging at him.

Another bolt shot out of the scepter. The Sorceress dodged out of the way just barely missing it, but that gave it a clear path to the rock Alex and I were behind.

I didn't think before I screamed as the rock smashed into pieces. I quickly clamped my mouth shut, and Alex and I tried our best to stay hidden, but that was challenging given that there was only pieces of the rock left.

The Sorceress had heard us. She quickly turned around towards us and when she did, the merman was wise enough to take the opportunity to aim at her.

She must have seen us looking at the man because she turned back around just in time to see the scepter raised up at her.

And this time it, it hit her.

She groaned as she fell back, clutching her arm. The merman aimed again, but it seemed like he missed and tried again.

Alex and I stayed low. I tried at some point to get it and swim over toward the man with the scepter, but Alex pulled me back down. Obviously, he planned on getting me back home in one piece.

I placed my head in my arms as the bolts continued, but the next thing I knew, they stopped.

I looked back up to see the sorceress laying lifeless on the ground and the merman staring bewilderedly at the scepter still in his hands. He stared at a for a few more seconds before dropping it unexpectedly.

I rose up, and Alex didn't stop me. Instead, he got up too and swam over to the merman with me.

The merman looked at us. "Who are you?" he asked. That's when I took the time to take in his appearance. He wasn't much older than us and had to still be in his twenties. His brown hair must have been neatly combed earlier, but it was shaken out of it's place.

It was the expression on his face, however, that stood out the most. He looked how I must have felt―overwhelmed. I felt as though I had bitten off more than I could chew and judging by the look of it, things weren't going his way either.

I wanted to feel pity for him, though. I didn't even know his story, but I just felt bad for him. From what I had just heard, he simply wanted to help his family.

"We were looking for the Sorceress. I wanted to ask her a few questions about my grandfather, King Triton. I'm Princess Melody and this is my friend, Alex," I introduced us.

"Your grandfather died about a year ago, right?" he asked.

I nodded. "We think the Sorceress had something to do with it."

"Well, I'm sure you're right. The Sorceress is certainly capable of doing things like that. I'm sorry," he replied.

"Uh, what happened back there. How did you do all of that with the scepter?" Alex asked.

"I don't think I did. It felt like the scepter was doing it by itself. It was most likely just trying to protect itself from the Sorceress," he replied.

"But how did you find the scepter?" I asked, looking down at it. No one dared pick it up yet. "It's supposed to be lost."

"I don't know how, but it just came to me. You see, the Sorceress placed a curse on my family a long time ago when one of my great ancestors failed to retrieve the scepter for her. I was told that if I freed her from her cave, she would lift the curse. Obviously, she just wanted the scepter," the merman explained.

"Wait," Alex started, "so that's how the scepter went missing. Someone did try to steal it back for her."

He nodded. "I believe it was my great-great grandfather. The sorceress enlisted his help to get it back. He snuck into the ancient king's kingdom and succeeded in getting it, but somewhere along the trip back to her, he lost it. I don't know how, but that's when it went missing. It never made it's way back to the sorceress, so it hasn't been seen since.

"The curse said my ancestor would lose his title as heir to his kingdom and everyone in the generations after him would not be able to descend to the throne. If they did, the curse would cause our kingdom would fall, so his crown was given to another noble and we've been living in secrecy ever since. As much as the kingdom knows, he simply died of unknown causes," the merman continued.

I saw something click in Alex's head as if he put two pieces of a puzzle together. He must have heard of this story before. I was really glad I brought him along.

'You're a descendant of the lost prince of Asterwen," Alex put together.

The prince shrugged. "Yeah, I am."

"So you're a prince, then?" I asked.

"Not exactly. I mean, technically, yes, but I don't have the title and doubt that I ever will," he said with sadness in his voice.

"But you are of royal blood. You can't deny who you are," I told him. I'm pretty sure I saw Alex roll his eyes at me. He must have thought I was being hypocritical, but I wasn't. I was _well_ aware of the fact that I was the crown princess. In fact, I felt almost too aware.

Alex knocked the look off the face he gave me and turned back towards the prince. "So," he began, "what are we supposed to call you. We can't keep calling you 'prince' if you don't like that."

"Caden," he replied.

"Okay, Ca–" I started to speak, but out of the corner of my eye I saw the sorceress move. She rose back up and lunged at us, and would have got us too if it wasn't for Caden's fast thinking. He quickly picked the scepter back up from the ocean floor and aimed it at her.

There was a bright, blinding light, then nothing. I opened my eyes to find that the Sorceress was gone―vanished into thin air, well water.

Then I looked at Caden's hands and saw he wasn't holding the scepter anymore. I had at first suspected that he dropped it again, but found that I was wrong when I looked down and saw that it too was gone.

"Caden?" I asked, full of worry. The sorceress was gone and the scepter was the last connection we had to her. "What happened to the scepter?"

"And where's the Sorceress?" Alex asked. "Does she have the scepter now?"

"I don't know what happened. I think the scepter did that on its own. It must have taken them someplace else, but I doubt they went to the same place. The scepter is probably trying to get away from the sorceress," Caden explained.

"That makes sense, but I really need to asked the Sorceress about my grandfather's death. I'm determined to get those answers. How do we find her now?" I asked.

"I don't know where she went, but I have a pretty good idea of where to find the scepter again," the prince said.

"And if we find the scepter, we'll find the Sorceress," Alex confirmed.

Caden nodded.

"And where do we find the scepter?" I asked.

"In Asterwen."


	8. Chapter 7: Neptune's Story

**Chapter 7: Neptune's Story**

* * *

To understand my grandfather's encounters with the Sorceress, John told me that you first must hear the stories that date back to the beginning of Atlantica, and then you will learn that it all actually started with my great-great-grandfather, King Neptune, because he was the first to meet the Sorceress.

Atlantica was born from war. A massive war broke out all throughout the ocean. Merpeople fled from their old homes to escape the tragedies. One by one the escapees formed a group and eventually created a new kingdom. They elected their leaders, Neptune's parents, as king and queen, and Atlantica was born with two, wise rulers.

All was well. Atlantica was a very peaceful place that tried their best to stay out of the rest of the ocean wars. However, the wars didn't stay out of Atlantica.

When he was only a teen, Neptune's young life was shattered when two assassins killed both of his parents. Sounds familiar, right? Perhaps that's why he thought he connected with the Sorceress so well.

When he became king he thought that everything he did was perfect. The arrogant king never listened to anyone's advice. He didn't think he needed it, so when advisers started talking to him about marriage, he ignored them―until he met the Sorceress.

By this point she was already practicing dark magic, but Neptune didn't know that, almost no one did. He simply thought she was a beautiful princess who went through a tragic event so similar to his.

The night they met they were already in love, or at least Neptune thought he was. The sorceress used all of her might to sneak her way into his heart, and he was too naïve to see how evil she truly was.

Neptune brought her up to his room. It was in that room that he confessed his love for her and she finally secured her prey.

He pressed her against the wall and kissed her roughly. "I love you," he said between kisses. "I love you so much."

The Sorceress broke the kiss, held his face in her hands, and actually dared to look into his eyes. "I love you, too, King Neptune, the greatest of all kings," she said. He couldn't see through the lie she had just told.

"I want to marry you," the young king said. "I want to make you my wife―my queen. You'll be the most beautiful queen this kingdom will ever see."

The Sorceress smiled. That was exactly what she wanted to hear.

She shivered as Neptune ripped off her seashell bra and started to apply small kisses down her body, but she did nothing to stop him. This was all part of her plan, them spending the night together, so she could fully make him hers. Some often wondered if she actually did love him for a moment. However, if she did manage to have a heart warm enough to love him for just a moment, those feelings were quickly replaced with greed.

It was at their engagement ball that she planned her attack. She hired a hitman to kill the king with a poisoned arrow. She confessed later that she wanted the poison to be slow, so that on his deathbed they would say their marriage vows, leaving the kingdom and all of its power in her hands.

It didn't go the way she wanted, though. A guard had spotted the hitman right before he could attack. They seized him and he quickly confessed that it was the sorceress who had hired him.

By the time the Sorceress had figured out her plan had failed, it was too late. Neptune had already gotten wind of his attempted assassination.

He looked her dead in her cold hearted eyes as he said, "How could you? I trusted you. I _loved_ you, but yet you decided to bestow upon me the very same fate that was my parents'!"

The heartbroken king ordered the guard to lock her up in the dungeon until morning when he would deal with her and charge her with treason.

However, there was a little piece of Neptune's heart that still belonged to the Sorceress. He still loved her even after what she tried to do to him, so as he considered her faith that night, he could not bring himself to have her executed. Instead, he cut her a deal: her life would be spared, but she would be exiled from the kingdom, and if she ever set fin in the kingdom again, he would have her killed.

The Sorceress took her punishment as if it didn't affect her at all. She left, but had every intention of getting back at him because she knew that even though this experience had turned him into a much more serious king, part of him still loved her, and that he could never kill her.

And, of course, she did go back because that was only the beginning.


	9. Chapter 8: Asterwen

**Chapter 8: Asterwen**

* * *

I was surprised with how fast a simple, little quest had turned into a huge journey to not only discover the answers to my grandfather's death, but to also help Caden break his curse.

From what I could understand, Caden did not actually want to inherit the throne to his kingdom; that's not why he tried to free the Sorceress. The current ruler of his kingdom was treating people harshly and he just couldn't stand for it any longer when he was the true ruler. He had put up with the fact that it was because of the harsh rule of the current king his parents were killed, but it seemed like something else had really pushed him over the edge now.

I felt so bad for him. Not just for the fact that he had lost both of his parent when he was young, but because he was in the same boat as me: he didn't want to become a ruler. He knew that if he broke the curse he would be able to gain his crown, but he didn't want to.

If only he could give himself a chance. Caden really seemed like he had a caring heart, and he didn't even know what kind of a ruler he would be like, and I know Alex would roll his eyes at me when I say that, but I already know that I wouldn't be a good queen. I already knew that I couldn't even be a proper princess.

When I was younger and didn't realize the challenges of being a queen, I looked forward to it so much. I wanted to be just like my mom. I had hoped to live up to both of my parents' reputations, especially when I was younger. That was my main goal in life.

I was maybe five when the idea first struck me. I was in my parents' room playing with some of my mother's jewelry. They both had to finish up some last minute work, but they were so busy that day that they hadn't had anytime to spend with me, so that was their solution, and even though I was a pretty big distraction, I was a well welcomed one.

"Mommy, look at this necklace!" I said, placing it around my neck and smiled brightly.

"Yeah, it looks really pretty on you," my mother complimented, setting down the last paper she had to look over.

I turned around to show my father. "Daddy, Daddy, look at me!"

He sat down his papers, too. "Well don't you look as pretty as a princess."

I giggled. "But I am a princess!"

My dad picked me up and put me on his lap. "I know, and one day you'll be a great queen, too."

"Yeah," I said, full of excitement. "I want to be just like you and Mommy. Well, I want to really be like Mommy. I'm a girl. I don't want to be a king. I get to be a queen!"

"Yes, you will, but you'll get some of my big responsibilities, too," my father told me. "You'll pretty much be in charge."

"I don't care. It will be fun!" I said. "Wait. Will it be hard?"

"There'll be moments of difficulties, but you're a smart girl. You'll figure it out."

"And if you ever need help, we'll always be there to help you," my mom said.

I crawled off my dad's lap and moved next to my mom. "Don't worry, Mommy. I promise I'll be just as good of a queen as you." I promised and kissed her on the cheek.

My father was right. I realized now how difficult it would be to rule a kingdom. I knew now that I couldn't keep my promise, much like how my grandfather wasn't able to keep his. I would never be as good of a queen as my mother, or as good of a ruler as my father.

"We're almost there," Caden said, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Whatever you do, don't draw attention to yourself. Just act like normal people going about their daily routines, and the guards won't notice you."

He stopped swimming momentarily to tighten the strand of seaweed he had wrapped around his arm. I wondered why he was wearing it. It didn't look like it was covering a wound.

Caden then continued on and Alex and I followed him into the city plaza. It was a small kingdom, much smaller than Atlantica, but there was still a bustling crowd in the market. He led us through that market and by the time we had exited, I didn't know where we were. The market was filled with so many people.

It wasn't hard to tell that that was the spot where everyone gathered because of the vast amount of people. Most of them looked poor and unhappy. I wondered how a small and simple looking kingdom could fall out of shape so badly.

Once out of the market, Caden led us through the much calmer part of the city and to a small cabin. It wasn't anything special. In fact, it almost looked abandoned as if no one lived there anymore.

He took a key out of its hiding spot in a nearby sea plant and opened the door for us. He swam in first, followed by Alex and then me. In that moment, I honestly thought it might have been a trap.

It wasn't, though. Caden shut the door behind him and called out to another person in the cabin. "I brought guests back. They're here to help."

"Really? Who are they?" asked the merman who swam out of another room. He was older than Caden, but would not be considered elderly.

Caden looked to us to introduce ourselves. "Uh, I'm Princess Melody and this is Alex," I said.

"Of Atlantica?" he asked and I nodded. "Well, what are you doing over here in this little neck of the reef?"

"Don't worry. We can trust them, Easton. They're trying to find the scepter and the Sorceress, too," Caden answered for us.

"Oh, and how did your little search go? Did you find the scepter?" Easton eagerly asked.

So Caden told him the story of his encounter with the Sorceress and us, and I filled it in with what little John had told me about her and my grandfather. Over those few moments, it seemed like Easton became more understanding than when we first met him. It seemed at first that he didn't trust us, but after listening to our stories, it became apparent that he was also willing to help.

From what Alex and I could understand, Easton was a friend of Caden's parents who took him in after they died, and he hated the current monarch as well. He had seen the harshness of the king right in front of him when he killed his wife to make a point across to the rest of the people, so Easton was more than willing to help the lost prince regain his throne.

The two of them had been hiding out of sight in case somehow someone learned the truth about Caden. It was the way his family had been living since the beginning. They said that it was also a simple way to stay out of sight in general. They rarely had to face the harshness of the king's rule anymore, but it still wasn't an easy way to live.

"So, how do you suppose we find the scepter again. I mean, we don't really know where to look?" I asked.

"Well, when I found it I was simply in here. I didn't do anything special. One second my hands were empty, the next I was holding it. I was hoping that it would show up here again," Caden explained.

"Well, maybe that will happen again," I suggested.

"That's very unlikely. The scepter is very picky on who it trusts and now that Caden released the Sorceress, it might not trust him anymore," Easton said.

Caden bowed his head slightly and fidgeted with the wrap on his left arm. It wasn't his fault that he was tricked. Hopefully, the scepter could somehow understand that and go back to him. He seemed like a really nice and genuine person otherwise.

"Well, Melody's looking for it. Maybe it will come to her," Ales suggested.

"We can only hope," Easton replied.

Just then there was a knock on the door and the sound of a female voice causing Alex and me to jump out of our skins since we had thought that no one else would be coming. "Caden, it's me!"

"It's okay. That's just Shona. She's a friend," Caden said, opening the door for her to let her in. "How are you today?" he asked, but it wasn't hard to tell that there was something else he meant by saying that.

"Fine," she replied. "I just finished my shift at the palace. I was hoping I could crash here again tonight. I don't work again for another three days, and I'd hate to have to stay in that horrid place till then. The maids get the worst rooms."

"Yeah," Caden answered looking ecstatic that she would be staying, and I wondered if here had just forgotten about what had just happened with the Sorceress and all. "You know you can stay here anytime you need to. You're always welcomed here, right Easton?"

"Always," he confirmed.

Shone smiled before turning her attention curiously looking towards Alex and I.

"Oh, this is Princess Melody and her friend Alex. They're trying to help us find the scepter. It's a long story," Caden said.

"Really? What happened?" she asked, so we told her the story.

* * *

"So, what do you all think we should do?" Shona asked. "We have to find the scepter and now we have to stop the Sorceress, too."

"I think we should figure out where the scepter is first. We can deal with the Sorceress after we find it," I suggested. It would be so much simpler to stop the Sorceress if we had the scepter. It could be very powerful, so it would be vital for stopping her from who knows what she could be doing, and from what I learned from John, it wasn't going to be good.

"But where do you think it is?" she asked.

Everyone in the room shrugged. No one had a clue of where to start. We all knew that we had to find it, but I seriously began to doubt that we ever would.

And that's when I felt like giving up.


	10. Chapter 9: Poseidon's Story

**Chapter 9: Poseidon's Story**

* * *

After her encounter with Neptune, the Sorceress became a big part of Atlantica. The Atlanticans were almost always talking and gossiping about her so called upcoming return for revenge and some they even went as far as talking about the king's broken heart that was still held by the Sorceress, even though he moved on when he married his queen.

Years past however, and she stayed away for all of that time. Atlantica became a thriving kingdom, and Neptune and his queen had three children, a daughter who was married off to another kingdom, a son who died of a fever when he was only ten, and the eldest son, Poseidon, who was left to become the next king.

It wasn't long after my great-grandfather become of age to rule that Neptune passed down the throne to his son. People still talked about the Sorceress and his horrible execution of the situation, and even though that experience definitely made him change his ways and become a great king, he knew he could never fully gained the people's trust.

All went well and Poseidon was a wonderful ruler. He listened to his wife, his people, and his father. His wife was even pregnant with a child―a child that would soon become my grandfather.

Then, one day he received word from his sister. Her guards had spotted the Sorceress in her kingdom trying to create an army, and she was afraid that she was only starting to plot her revenge on Atlantica.

Poseidon knew how dangerous the Sorceress could be, so he sent out orders for the Sorceress to be captured, and while her guard was let down, they caught her and she was brought back to the king.

He ordered her to be executed the next day, but his father, returning from a trip, had caught wind of what happened. Neptune still didn't like the idea of her dying, even though that's what he vowed to do to her. It was clear that part of his heart was still held by the Sorceress.

"You can't kill her," Neptune argued. "She deserves a second chance."

"She already had a second chance!" Poseidon shot back. "Letting her go will only be giving her the second chance to kill you. What second chance would you give her then? Would you invite her to your funeral?"

"I'm not telling you to let her go. Just don't harm her. Imprison her for life for her crimes if you want. Just don't harm her, _please_ ," Neptune begged. It's hard to understand how someone could still love the one who tried to kill them.  
"But, Father, you already warned her you would kill her if she came back, and she did! You have to keep you word. What type of leader would that make you look like if you didn't follow through with your word?"  
"That doesn't matter anymore. I'm not king. You are," Neptune shot back. "It's up to you now, son. You can do what you want, but I'm telling you, it won't matter if you kill her or not. She won't do any more harm either way, so why should we unnecessarily kill someone?"

"But what if she escapes? We know what she's capable of and I don't want her trying to hurt my wife or child. Doesn't that matter to you?" my great-grandfather asked.  
"It does, but she won't harm you or your family. She wants me, but she'll never try to hurt me again," Poseidon said. He truly believed that.

Poseidon had ever seen his father this way. It was strange. All throughout his life he watched his father love and cherish his mother more than anyone in the world, but now he seemed like he loved the sorceress the most. The rumors he had heard and always denied about his father all seemed true now.

However, he was still his father and he and he didn't want to disappoint him, so he obeyed his wishes. The Sorceress was unharmed and imprisoned in the dungeon where she had a guard outside of her cell at all time to ensure she didn't escape.

Rumors swirled around the kingdom of the Sorceress's return and how she cheated her death. The people knew that it was Neptune's decision to not kill the sorceress, but it was Poseidon who was left to deal with the burden since he was the only one who could order them not to execute her.

While Poseidon was greatly accepted by his people, they quickly became skeptical of him too. He had very good intentions, but they worried that he could be too much like his father. The Atlanticans had always worried that the young king would one day give into his desires much like his father did and falling into his father's pressure was a good example of that.

Poseidon had lost most of his people's trust and Atlantica waited for the day when they would have a great king that could truly lead them into prosperity and would hopefully be untouched by the Sorceress.

So the Sorceress had left her mark in so many lives, but she wasn't anywhere close to done yet. She had yet to meet my grandfather, the one who's life she would impact the most.


	11. Chapter 10: A Risky Trip

**(A/N- I don't think I'm as happy with this chapter as I could be, but I have to stop fussing with all the little things and just get it out. I started writing it a month ago, but got seriously sick right after Thanksgiving and fell way behind schedule and never got the chance to catch up because I was so busy this December. I'm still trying to catch up, but hopefully this story can start to move a little faster again.)**

* * *

 **Chapter 10: A Risky Trip**

"Okay," I started, taking charge. I was not about to let us all sulk about not knowing where to look when all we had to do was think a little harder. "We need to brainstorm ideas of where the scepter might be."

Everyone thought a moment before Alex came up with an idea. "It could have gone to Atlantica. I mean, it might know that you're looking for it."

"True," I said as I grabbed a piece of paper and pen and started to write the ideas down. It was possible that it could have gone there. "Where else?"

"What if it's simply here in Asterwen," Shona said. I wrote it down, but it really was too general of an idea. Even though it was a small kingdom, we needed to pinpoint where it was. That's why we were there.

"No," Easton said, "It wouldn't be here. Not if Caden is here. It would probably want to stay away from him. He did free the Sorceress after all."

Alex and I looked at each other. There goes that idea.

Caden suddenly sparked up. "What if it's in the Sorceress's old kingdom?"

"Caden, that kingdom doesn't exist anymore. You know that," Easton clarified.

"Yeah, an enemy king invaded and the kingdom fell," Alex added.

"I know, I know," he said. "But it's still _there_. I'm sure it's still a _place_."

I thought for a moment. He was right. Either that area was full of ruins or it was rebuilt into another kingdom or town.

"But why would it go there if it's trying to get away from the Sorceress, too?" Shona questioned.

"Because why would the Sorceress go there? There's only bad memories and nothing left for her. Plus, who would be suspecting it to go there?" Caden explained.

"That is the way the scepter works," Easton added. "It does the unexpected."

"So, do we know where this kingdom is?" I asked so we could get going.

Everyone shrugged. "That information was lost to history," Alex said.

"Great," I said very irritated, throwing the pen I was still holding down on the table. "How do we find how where it is. We can't just asked the Sorceress where she used to live."

"I'm sure the information is _somewhere,"_ Easton said.

"What we need is a library full of books," Alex said.

"Just like the one in the palace," Shona added, not truly thinking. "They have everything in there."

We all looked at Shona. That was exactly what we need, and she worked there. It would be a piece of cake to get in.

"But we can't all just swim right in and started going through the books," she quickly added.

"But you work there. You can easily get us in," I said.

"No. The king would never allow anyone to just swim into his palace for no true reason, especially if the reason was to help us find a scepter that would put him out of his rule," she said.

"We'll tell him we're looking for something else," Alex suggested.

"You guys aren't from around here. You don't know King Conway. He's too rude to help anyone," she explained.

That's when I remembered that that's what Caden had first told us. That was the reason why he wanted to take his throne back. I couldn't imagine of there being such a cruel king out there who would want to hurt their people instead of helping them.

"We'll have to sneak in then," I said. "Shona, you're a maid there. You must know the entrances and the palace like the back of your hand."

"No," Caden interjected. "We're not going to put Shona in that position. If he finds out that she helped people sneak in, you don't even _know_ what he'll do to her."

"But this might be our only chance!" Alex begged.

"Caden, son, he's right. Shona doesn't need to come with, but we need to get in and find that information," Easton tried to reason.

I saw Caden and Shone both think for a moment. Shona was obviously scared of the idea of getting caught, and Caden really didn't want to put her in that position. I felt bad for bringing up that idea.

"Shona," Caden swam forward and sat down next to her, grabbing her hands. "Do want to help us with this. You can say no."

"I want to help you. I just don't want to get caught," she said. I didn't even want to know what she was afraid of happening to her if she got caught.

"You don't have to," he said.

"If you tell us where to go, you can stay behind and we'll come back after we get the info," Easton suggested.

Shone looked back at Caden. "If you go in… I want to be with you. I can't let you go in alone. You'll do better with me there anyway. I know the place."

"Okay," he replied, still looking skeptical about the idea.

"We better get going if we ever hope to find the scepter before the Sorceress does," Easton suggested.

He was right. We had to get moving or we'd never find the scepter, and I wanted to find it soon. I was anxious for those answers and I didn't want to leave my parents and Elliot in the dark for too long.

So we got ready and headed out to the palace to find the answers we all needed.

* * *

We approached the palace from the back. Shona said that it wouldn't be as busy back there, and she was right. While there was still some action by the back entrance, it wasn't nearly as bad as what I saw the front to be.

It was a massive palace, almost as big as Atlantica's. It was magnificent. It took my breath away just like when I first saw Atlantica. This palace was almost white and looked almost as if it was made of the finest, polished silver. The towers wound way up from the ocean floor, and on one side of the palace was an amazing garden. It truly was a sight to see. I would need a lifetime to take in the whole view.

But I knew the truth, and I'm sure most of the people of Asterwen knew, too; it was just a gilded scene. People who would be unfamiliar to Asterwen wouldn't know of the people suffering from behind this spectacular sight that the king held, who got to live a perfect life.

Shona stopped swimming. "If we stay low from here on out we should be able to make it through that door with no problem," she pointed towards a door. "It's mainly used for food deliveries, but they're done early in the morning. When you go in, you can take two ways. Go to the left. That way leads to the kitchen staff's quarters, but they should still be busy cleaning up from dinner."

We listened to Shona and made it successfully into the palace without being seen. After passing through the kitchen staff's quarters, we were brought to an open hall and Shona stopped us.

"We have to be careful now. You never know where guards are going to be stationed," she explained.

I began to realize how risky that trip really was. At any moment a guard could come out of nowhere and spot us, and we didn't want that to happen.

But it happened anyway. We had only followed Shona just a short way to the library when we heard a man's voice.

"In here," Caden said as he thought quickly and pulled back a seaweed curtain for us to hide behind until they had passed.

Once it was safe, we continued on to the library, carefully looking around each corner. Luckily, Shona knew most of the more unused halls and passageways thanks to her working here. While I felt bad for dragging her into a situation she didn't want to be in, I was glad that we had her to direct us through the palace.

After what felt like an eternity of endlessly worrying that we would get caught again, we finally made it. Caden and Easton opened the giant door to the library and we swam in. Luckily, no one was in there. It seemed to be our lucky day.

The library was also stunning. The breathtaking, ocean architect that they use under the sea never ceased to amaze me. It looked even more stunning than mine back at home, but I personally thought Atlantica's looked better.

"All of the history books are on this wall," Shone informed us, so we started our search over there. We had to be quick, but we had to make sure we did a thorough check of any book that might give us any information that we needed.

After what felt like forever, Easton discovered a book. "Check this one out," he showed us the cover. "' _Stories of Lost Kingdoms_.'"

He placed the book on a table and we all gathered around to check it out. I hoped that this would be the book we needed.

Easton began flipping through the pages. Page by page went by without any signs of information that could help us. There was almost no more pages left to look at, but that couldn't be it. There had to be more books in this library we could check. We didn't risk our fins sneaking in there only to leave empty handed.

"Wait!" Alex quickly placed his hands on the book to stop Easton from flipping. "I thought I just caught a glimpse of the word 'Sorceress.'"

Easton flipped back and we all gathered closer around to read it better.

"Hm, Caracena. That's a pretty name," Shona commented.

"Let's just hope it gives us the right answers," I said. That could be our only hope. I just hoped that Alex's eyes were right.

"Hm," Easton said before he started to read the intro. "'Caracena once used to be a lively place, until the Sorceress took power. Her horrible way of leading the kingdom had driven it into such a sea crevice that even if the Sorceress hadn't have given the scepter away, even that powerful object couldn't have saved it.'"

"Yes, yes, we already know that! She was a horrible queen, gave away the scepter, yada, yada, yada," I exclaimed. "Does it say anything about where it's located?"

"Hang on," Easton quickly skimmed over the rest of the text until he came to a relevant part. "'The kingdom still stands to this day, but only as ruins, just like the Sorceress had wanted. Just past the Sea of Currents it lays towards the north in what are now called the Isolated Seas. No matter where you come from, it's a long and dangerous journey. Once you make it past the powerful currents, there's no one nearby for miles, but that doesn't mean that you won't come across sharks or the occasional Octopen trying to stir up trouble.'"

"Okay, let's go!" I said, starting towards the library exit. All we had to do was head towards the Sea of Currents. I didn't know where that was, but I was sure that they did.

"Wait," Alex caught me. "Melody, the book wasn't kidding when it said that it's dangerous."

"Yeah, that's quite a trek," Easton added.

I sighed. This was our only option at the moment, and with the Sorceress on the loose, I didn't know how much time we were losing. I wasn't going to let a scary little trip get in my way. Anyway, what was the worst that could happen?

"It's the only way," Caden said. "We've got to do this."

"And we need to get out of here soon. We've been lucky no one's caught us so far, but the longer we stay here, the more we risk it," Shona warned. I could hear the fear in her voice. I still felt bad for putting her in that position.

"She's right. We need to start heading out," Easton added. That's when I really understood how cruel this king could be. Both Shona and Easton, two people who saw his harshness, were terrified of him, and I was sure that Alex and Caden wanted to get out of there as well.

"Then let's go. Grab the book. We'll take it with," Alex ordered and Caden grabbed it.

We began our way to the exit and carefully peeked around the corner. No one was coming.

"Follow the same way we took coming. It should be safe. The king had a guest over this evening. I'm not sure when he's leaving, but hopefully we're still safe. It seemed like dinner just ended when we got here, so he shouldn't be wrapping things up until now. We just have to get out as soon as we can," Shona explained.

Shona was right. We didn't come in contact with many people, but just before we had reached the kitchen staff's quarters, we heard a voice; a booming voice.

Alex and I saw Easton, Caden, and especially Shona freeze. She swam backwards into Caden's arms, who didn't hesitate to hold her tight. "It's going to be okay..." I heard him whisper into her ear, but I didn't manage to hear the rest he said.

With Shona paralyzed in fear, the rest of us had no idea where to go now that we were trapped, and honestly, I think were we all scared.

In just a few, very short seconds, they turned the corner and came face to face with us. As soon as they saw us, the guards gripped their weapons tighter, waiting for their order, and the king looked us dead in the eye with a confused look as he tried to figure who we were.

"What are you doing in _my_ palace?" he asked. He turned towards Shona and must have immediately recognized who she was. "What are you up to? I thought you would have learned you lesson by now after seeing what happened to the other girls. Well, it looks like it'll be your turn soon. Guards! Seize them."

"Come on!" Alex said, bringing everyone who were frozen into the realization that we really needed to get out of there.

Easton and Caden turned around and quickly began speeding away with us, the latter still holding on to Shona as he tried to lead her to safety.

In that moment, I didn't think we could make it out safely. The guards were easily catching up to us and surprisingly so was the king. It was hard for us to keep a safe distance from them.

Since Alex and I were the first ones to take off, we were in front, but we had no idea where to go, so we followed the path back to the library, the only way we knew. Once we got there, we could figure out which way to take from there, _if_ we could get that far.

I looked behind us to check on Caden and them, and just as I did I saw Shona get ripped from Caden's arms by a guard. She screamed.

"Let her go!" Caden demanded as he pulled her away from the guard before he had a good grasp on.

I thought everything would be fine, but I looked behind me once again to see a guard snag Caden. Shona called his name out, but before she could do something Easton grabbed her and handed her over to Alex and me. She struggled against Alex's grip, but relaxed just a bit once she saw Easton swimming back to go help Caden.

I hoped that he could get away because he was still holding the book that we needed, and apparently it was of good use to him because he used it to hit the guard over the head. I missed what exactly happened to the guard, but I saw that Caden had successfully escaped from his grasped.

He carefully dodged the rest of the guards in front of him to meet up with Easton. The older merman had waited for him to catch up before continuing. It wasn't until Caden was in front of him that he continued on as well, which is what allowed a guard to catch him.

Multiple guards held Easton now, making it almost impossible for him to escape. "Go on without me!" he called out to the rest of us.

I could tell Caden was very hesitant to move on, which I understood because Easton must have been like a father to him. Alex let go of Shona and had to drag him along with us.

"We have to get out of here. We can come back for him later," he told him.

"Make two rights up ahead and take the first exit that appears. It won't be as quiet as it was in the back, so we'll have to keep swimming to get away," Shona instructed. Finally we knew where to go.

Her directions were right and led us straight outside. From there, we swam until we hit a kelp forest at the edge of Asterwen. It was much darker and larger than the one I had seen near Atlantica, but it was our only option unless we wanted to stay out in the open.

As soon as we were in there we were overwhelmed with kelp, and we weren't even in that far. In the middle of all that kelp I couldn't help but wonder what I had gotten us into. It was a dumb and risky trip which resulted in us getting the information we needed, but also in a friend of ours getting caught. I wasn't sure what was going to happen to Easton now. I should have stopped and realized the consequences that could happen if we got caught.

I saw a ditch to my right. "In here," I called and the four of us swam in and waited until the guards were gone. That was all we could do along with hoping that Easton would be ok.


	12. Chapter 11: Doubts

**Chapter 11: Doubts**

There have been many times I've felt confident in my ability to rule. There have been those times when I didn't doubt myself and I believed in myself for just a few short lived seconds. Those moments give me such a great feeling of hope that I can one day become the queen I hope to be, but most of those moments always come crashing down.

A harsh example of this was just a few months ago. The kingdom of Keligan had just gone through an economical crisis and needed to revises their trade agreements with us. My father had decided that this would be a great meeting for me to look in on to help prepare me for my future task of becoming queen. After all, there would be a lot of meetings with other leaders in my future.

The day King Matthew showed up, I was ready to help. I was completely confident for just once in my life. I thought could do this.

"Good morning," my father greeted King Matthew and his son when they arrived.

"Good morning, Eric," he greeted back, acting as if he had better things to do. King Matthew wasn't exactly the nicest person in the world. It wasn't like he was cruel or anything, he just always seemed like he didn't like people. Some people were intimidated by him, but Keligan and my kingdom had a close alliance, so I grew used to his attitude after the many times he's met with my parents about matters.

"Good morning, Princess Melody. I see you'll be joining us in this meeting," he added.

"Yes, King Matthew," I replied. I could do this. All I had to do was pay attention and maybe drop in a few ideas of my own. Piece of cake.

"Well, hopefully watching some great minds at work will teach you some things that might make you nearly as good as a male ruler," he told me.

King Matthew began walking towards the meeting room and my father placed a hand on my shoulder to offer me a smile signaling not to worry about it, but the grumpy king's words didn't bother me the slightest. That was how he acted towards everyone. It was rare for nice things towards anyone to come out of his mouth, and as long as you remember that, he couldn't get under your skin.

His son on the other hand, I didn't care for.

Prince Colin and I never got along. I never knew why. We just didn't

As soon as we left to go catch up to King Matthew, Colin walked next to me and had to open his mouth.

"My father is right. A woman never makes as good of a ruler as a man, so you have a lot to learn if you want to make sure you don't destroy the kingdom during your first year in power," he said.

"Shut up, Colin. There have been plenty of female rulers. I've heard that Queen Victoria is doing a great job of ruling England on her own right now," I shot back. Who ever said that women couldn't rule as well as men? Gender doesn't matter. All that matters is how good of a person you are, and how well you rule.

"Yeah, but she actually knows how to be a royal," Colin said.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked confused. I didn't know why he said that. It wasn't like I wasn't of royal blood.

"I'm just saying that you can't even be a proper princess. I know you're trying, Melody, but I don't know why. It's not working out for you very well. And let's not even mention how you were when you were younger. I know you think you've come far, but you haven't come _that_ far. You still hate this life and you will never be able to be a proper royal like the rest of us, so I'm asking you, what makes you think can you make a good queen?" Colin said.

Now that hurt me. I never heavily doubted myself until then. His words lingered in my mind for the longest time, and still do to this day. During the meeting I stayed silent, not saying anything that was on my mind, because his words were the only things on my mind. Did I really know how to properly be a royal? Could I be a good queen for my kingdom when I couldn't even be their princess?

I knew I had always hated being a princess and often wished that I could just be an ordinary person, and I knew I had flaws, and quite a few of them, but I didn't know that I was completely horrible at being a princess―at being a soon-to-be ruler. Was that how everyone viewed me? How my people viewed me?

I had hoped that with the proper training I could manage to become a good ruler, but from that moment on I seriously doubted my leadership abilities as a royal.

And here we were, all of us stuck in a ditch, waiting until the remnants of my horrible decision were gone. It was my idea to sneak into the library. I had lead them all into such a dangerous situation without truly thinking it through. Because of that we had lost Easton, and I wasn't sure how we would get him back.

The guards were determined. They search the area for what felt like forever, but thanks to the darkness from the kelp around us, we were unspotted in our little ditch. Eventually they left and we all carefully came back out.

"That was a close one" Alex commented, breaking the long silence.

"We have to go back and get Easton," Caden immediately said.

"We can't go back yet. The guards are probably on high alert right now. We're going to have to go back later, but I promise we will rescue him," I told him. It would be a death trap to go back in right away. "I'm sorry," I added. If only I had listened to Shona about how dangerous it would be.

Shona swam over to Caden and placed a hand on his shoulder. "He'll be ok, Caden. I know he will."

He placed his hand on hers and gave her a weak smile.

"Anyway," I added, "Once we get the scepter you can use it to gain back your title and then Easton will be free again."

"I just hope we get it soon," Caden said. "Anytime in there is too long for anyone."

"Then we better get going if we hope to get it before the Sorceress does. Do any of you know which way we have to go?" I asked. The kelp was too think to tell which direction we needed to go, not that I even would know which way was which under the sea. Navigating Atlantica was about all I could do.

"We should swim up and out of the forest to get out. I believe if we keep heading straight we can get to the Seas of Current in no time," Caden told us.

"Lead the way," I said. For now I was useless since I barely knew my way around the ocean, but that was ok. I didn't want to be in charge for the moment anyway.

* * *

"So, you and Caden are really cute together," I told Shona as we began our journey while Caden and Alex talked casually a few paces ahead.

"Oh, no. We aren't actually together," she responded much to my surprise. It seemed like there was a connection between them.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I just assumed…" I began.

"It's fine. I mean, he's really sweet and I actually do like him a lot, but I don't think anything could work out right now. I mean, you can just tell that Caden is always on edge nowadays. He's dying to do something to stop King Conway, but he's hesitant to do so, with him not actually wanting to become the ruler of Asterwen and all.

"He's been trying so hard to find the scepter, all while waiting for the right time and looking for a different solution to the problem that doesn't require him becoming the ruler. I don't want to bug him during all of that," Shona explained.

"Maybe he needs someone to be by his side right now, to help get him through this. Life easier when you're not alone," I told her.

That's how Elliot helped me. I was certain that I could handle things by myself. I felt like I was fine taking on more and more duties during my training, but I think deep down I knew that every time things got worse or I started doubting myself, something was missing. Once I found Elliot, everything got a little bit better. If something was troubling me, he was there to help me get through it. I was glad that I would have him by my side when I became queen.

I wished Elliot was there for me right then. The last time he comforted me felt like such a long time ago when it was only last night.

"Maybe, but right now's not a good time to start something. We don't know what will happen to either one of us. It's risky to live in the city for anyone, especially if you're the hidden heir and it's dangerous to work at the palace. If you do one thing the king hates, you get punished. That's… that's what he did to the other girls," Shona said.

I wasn't about to press the rest of the story out of her. I understood that King Conway was a monster. I've met quite a few of rude rulers, but none as cruel as this king. I was glad that I could help get rid of him by finding the scepter. It was the least I could do for these people. While there was something in store for Easton, Shona, and Caden, they were also risking themselves for me, and Alex was only in it to help me.

"We should stop and rest for the night," Caden said. "It's getting dark and we've had a long day."

I think that sounded like a good idea to everyone. We were all exhausted from the day's events, and I was sure that we definitely had a long journey ahead of us if it turn out be as difficult as they said it would be. But, there was no time for worrying. We all needed to try and get some rest; as impossible as that sounded.


	13. Chapter 12: Triton's and Athena's Story

**Chapter 12: Triton's and Athena's Story**

"Do you know how your grandparents met?" Jonathan asked me.

"Of course I do," I answered. My mother and grandfather both told me that story. "They met at a ball and fell in love shortly after."

"Ah, but there's more to simply that, you see," he replied.

"More stories my grandfather didn't tell me? Do they have to do with the Sorceress?" I asked. John nodded.

* * *

 _John rose up from his seat to stretch his legs for a moment claiming that he was getting much too old. When he sat back down he started:_

Your grandparents met a ball in Atlantica, just like you said. They were completely smitten by each other, but the reason why their love was so strong came later.

They were both shy when they first bumped into each other. They chatted throughout the evening, and slowly but surely they became closer. Once the ball was over, your grandfather claimed that he would write to Athena every week―and I'm sure that he did with how strong his feelings were for her―and she wrote back as well.

They would spend every second together whenever they visited each other, and the one day when your grandmother visited Atlantica, your grandfather introduced her to me.

She was skeptical at first. She was always interested in the surface and land, but she had heard the stories about humans. However, she came nonetheless because she trusted your grandfather. Her curiosity got to the best of her. That was something your grandparents had in common.

Like I said, after we met the three of us became great friends. Your grandmother was one of the sweetest girls I knew and I cherished those days we all got to spend together.

It didn't take me long to see how much they loved each other. After a while, I asked your grandfather when he was going to propose to your grandmother because I knew it was going to happen sooner or later.

"I don't know," he responded. "I really, really want to spend the rest of my life with her, but what if she says no? What is there's another prince back in her kingdom she has feelings for?"

"Triton," I started, "I highly doubt that's the case. She loves you so much. It's not hard to see, but if you wait too long you might lose her."

I didn't hear from your grandparents for a couple of days. I wondered what had happened to them and wondered if just maybe your grandfather did in fact propose to her, but they instead swam off and got eloped.

After about a week I found out what had happened.

As it turns out, the Sorceress was still locked up in her cell living out the punishment Poseidon had foolishly gave her. The life sentence had turned into an eternity since she had found a way to stay young forever.

One day the Sorceress figured out a way to escape from her cell and put it to use when there was a commotion in the dungeon. While the guards stationed near her cell went off to see what was going on she was able to use her magic to break out of the cell.

The Sorceress began to carefully make her way out of the palace. She must have ended up going towards the gardens because that's where she ended up at. Those gardens were your grandmother's favorite even before they were hers and she improved upon them, and it just so happened that your grandmother was visiting Atlantica that week and was out swimming in the gardens to clear her mind since she couldn't sleep.

The Sorceress had not intentions of running into anyone, so bumping into Athena was not part of her plan and she didn't know what to do.

"Who are you?" your grandmother asked her. But she didn't need to because after studying the Sorceress for a few moments she knew who she was from the stories she'd heard.

"It's a shame," the Sorceress started off calmly. "I never wanted to hurt anyone, but I can't risk getting caught just yet."

Your grandmother never had the chance to react because the Sorceress suddenly grabbed her arm and pushed her into a nearby wall. She had hoped to simply knock her unconscious for a few moments, but your grandmother remained conscious and began calling for the guards.

The Sorceress knew she had to escape quickly, but she didn't want anyone to know she had escaped just yet, so as Athena was trying to get up and swim away she grabbed her and forcefully began pulling her along with her.

"I can't have anyone give me away, so you need to be quiet," the Sorceress said as she covered your grandmother's mouth with her hand. "I'll figure out what to do with you after we're out of this place."

While the Sorceress was trying to silence your grandmother she somehow manage to escape her grip, but she wasn't about to let your grandmother get away that easily and used her dark magic to throw her into a wall where she laid unconscious until the guards found her.

Once they found Athena they took her to the infirmary. A little while later they discovered that the Sorceress had escaped and they put two and two together. They found a note in her cell saying that she would one day return to get her revenge on the royal family, but they never found the Sorceress.

It wasn't long until Triton found out about how Athena's life was in jeopardy and he paid her a visit in the infirmary.

"I'm OK," she reassured him.

"But you're hurt, and who knows what that wicked sorceress could have done to you. I wish my father would have had her executed when he had the chance. You could have died," he said.

"But I didn't," your grandmother replied.

That's when I guess your grandfather really took my words into consideration because that moment he proposed to her, and of course, she said yes.


	14. Chapter 13: The Sea of Currents

**Chapter 13: The Sea of Currents**

"There it is. The Sea of Currents. It consists of the most powerful currents in all of the seven seas," Caden pointed out as the currents came into sight. They were a massive line of constantly moving waves, and they were intimidating. It looked like there was no end to them.

"The currents are calmest at midnight," Alex explained. "So, we've missed the ideal time to pass through, but they're roughest at noon. At least we're not hitting them then."

"But it's closer to noon than to midnight," Shona pointed out.

"We'll have to go through it no matter what, so let's just get through it now," I said.

"The current stretches all the way from the top to the bottom, but stay towards the sea bed. There's less of an impact there," Alex advised. "And whatever you do, don't give into the currents. They flow constantly to the right. Swim through them, not with them, or else you'll get caught, so don't stop. It is possible to make it straight ahead without getting taken when you're closer to the bottom with them not being as strong. They won't take you unless you let them."

I started in first to get the others moving and they followed shortly behind me.

At first I thought it wasn't so bad. There was a current that pulled you to the right, yes, but it seemed like people exaggerated its strength. However, as soon as I got more than a few meters in I felt more on an impact, and I was sure there was more to come. If I were standing and this was a giant gust of wind, I would have been knocked off my feet, which is what it almost felt like. It was getting hard to control my own tail. I couldn't imagine how hard it would be in the center. Now _that_ would be impossible.

I looked behind me and saw that they seemed to be struggling to stay on course some too. Alex and Caden weren't doing so bad. Shona was struggling a little more as we got deeper in, but she was doing better than me. That was the perk of being a mermaid your whole life, I guess.

"How wide is this?" I asked.

It was Caden who responded. "I don't think we're close to half way yet."

Alex swam a bit closer to me in case I would need help. Luckily, I didn't need any. I could manage, but barely.

Caden grabbed Shona's hand and she smiled appreciatively. Only I knew what she was actually feeling. Her heart probably gave a little flutter, just like whenever Elliot and I came into contact before we were together and even still today.

After a little longer we must have hit the halfway mark because I didn't know how harder it could get to stay straight. It was hard to see in front of me with the current rushing past every second. It almost felt like it was going to take my body away from me. At some points it felt like I had no control anyway.

All I could see was the blur of the ocean whirling past and I couldn't hear anything other than it either until I heard Shona say something.

I turned my head a little to listen better. "But did you see that?" she asked Caden. "Something moved down there I _swear_."

"It couldn't have been anything," he told her. "Nothing lives in here. If you saw anything it was probably just a piece of a plant caught in the current."

My heart stood on edge when I heard Shona say she had seen something, but I felt much better hearing Caden say that there was no creatures in here.

Alex turned to ask Caden about something, probably about the distance, but I didn't pay attention. I had seen something too.

Out of the corner of my eye about maybe fifty meters to my left I saw something float—something _swim_ past.

I calmed myself down. I was just scaring myself. Caden had just told Shona that nothing lived in here.

I looked over at Alex. He was still talking to Caden and Shona so I doubt he saw anything. Heck, _I_ probably didn't even see anything.

I glanced to my left again just to convince myself there was nothing there. I guess that was the worst idea ever because I saw whatever it was again. It went past too fast because of the current so I could only make out a gray blob. Then, there was another one. And a third.

I slowly turned towards Shona. "Was what you saw gray?"

"Yeah!" she exclaimed, glad that she didn't imagine it.

I looked to the left again only to see more go past. "Were there multiple ones?"

"No," she looked confused, which then turned into terror.

I pointed to my left. Another one swam by. It stopped this time, treaded the current, and turned towards us.

"What is that?" Alex asked Caden.

"I don't know," he slowly replied. The creature then suddenly began to swim towards us followed by more of them.

"Swim!" I ordered, but I don't think I needed to as we all tried to take off with full speed.

"They're currenters!" Caden called out to us. "They're able to ride and navigate the currents with ease!"

"I thought you said nothing lived in the currents!" I called back to him.

"Well," he started. "I've heard about them, but they're just a legend."

"The Sorceress is a legend. The scepter is a legend. You believed them, but you forget to tell us about a potentially deadly sea creature?!" I asked.

"Well don't blame me. I shouldn't have to be the one telling you everything, but I guess you don't know half the things you need to know for this trip because you're just a dumb princess from the land," Caden shot back.

"Guys, there is no time for arguing when we're getting chased!" Alex told us, but I had enough of princes trying to boss me around.

It was hard to get away with the current fighting against us and the currenters were quickly approaching with their ability to fight the currents. I knew there was no way we could outswim them, but there had to be another way. I look around at the vast current.

"Guys, stop swimming!" I ordered them.

"Are you insane!?" Caden asked. "If we stop we get taken by the current."

"Yeah, but we-" I started but Shona's scream cut me off. I managed to look behind me to find that one of the currenters had whipped a tentacle at her, but luckily missed. I had no idea that these creatures had dangerous tentacles!

Caden took it upon himself to protect Shona and barely missed another one. I never got a good look at the creatures, but I knew that they were dangerous.

"Whatever you plan to do, Mel, I trust you," Alex told me.

"Stop swimming," I started, out of breath from fighting the currents. "And let it take you to the right."

"But that will throw us way off course," Caden tried to protest, but it was of no use. Shona had stopped swimming and went with the current while she was still holding on to Caden taking him with her. I stopped and so did Alex.

It was a strange feeling, getting taken by the current. It made the little amount of control you had facing it a gift. I still felt like I wanted to fight the current, but there was no need to. After all, it was taking me where I needed to go.

I was aware of what Caden was trying to tell me, though. I wasn't exactly sure how long the current stretched, but I had seen that it looked like there was no end to it and it felt like it too. The long ride in the current became painful as it left me alone with my thoughts.

Perhaps Caden was right. With how long this could be, it would through us way off course. Of course, I wouldn't know how far it could knock us off course because I was just a stupid princess from the land above.

But maybe I didn't make the wrong choice for once. Not far ahead of us the waters looked different. I heard Alex say that it was the end of the current.

Getting thrown out of the current was much worse than swimming against it. As soon as I hit the edge, the current gave one last push despite the fact that it had slowed down and I sped out with no control. Even after I was out I couldn't regain control. I thought it had the same effect on the others, but I caught a glimpse of them steadying themselves.

It wasn't long before I had stopped, although I didn't realize I had. I heard Alex call out my name and then felt something very hard in front of me.


	15. Chapter 14: Asking for Help

**Chapter 14: Asking for Help**

There was a time not that long ago when I had tried tackling everything. I thought that I had wanted to prove to everyone that I could work hard at becoming a good queen, but now that I think about it, it was more about proving it to myself.

The Ambassador Ball was approaching fast and was to be hosted right in Denmark that year. Ambassadors from all over the world would come and mingle, talk about relations, and share cultures. While the first ball was not held at Denmark, my great grandfather had been the one to suggest it, so it was a tradition held very dearly by our kingdom.

There was much to do and since I was the crowned princess I had to lend a helping hand. Overall though, most of the duties were on my parents, but I believed that I could handle helping them a bit more than what I needed to. I offered to help both my father and mother with some of their duties for the ball.

Basically, if there was a chance to help, I took it and soon became filled with jobs on top of my demanding lessons, but I believed that I could handle it.

I had found a small break after dinner one day where I was able to allow myself to actually have a conversation with my father.

"You remember Mr. Williams from England, don't you?" he asked. I nodded. "Well, Queen Victoria has made him ambassador to Russia because of his ingenuity and I was thinking we could honor him with a speech. What do you think?"

"I think that's a good idea," I said as another idea came into my head. "How about I write it?"

He gave me a look. "Are you sure you want to? You seem pretty busy already."

"No, I, uh, have some extra time. I'll get started on it tonight," I told my father before heading off to begin working on it.

That, however, turned out to be the hardest job of them all and the most time consuming. I had met Mr. Williams just briefly once before and barely even knew anything about him. It was late at night when I heard my office door open. It was my father.

I heard him walk in and bend over to pick up some crumbled up starts of the speech that had missed the trash can. He sat in the seat in front of the desk. "Stuck, huh?"

I looked up at him, avoiding his eyes. "I little."

"Well, Elliot comes back from his visit to France tomorrow. You know that he met Mr. Williams more than you and I'm sure he'd be willing to help you," my father suggested.

"I know, but I don't need help," I mumbled and returned to doodling on the paper. I didn't need help from my husband. I just needed a hug and maybe some encouragement from him.

"Well," he started. "If you don't want his help, then maybe you could just give him the whole task."

I lifted my head back up. "Why don't you think I can do it?!"

"Melody, I know that you can do many things wonderfully, but you can't do everything. I can't. Your grandfather can't. No one can. Asking for help is something everyone does," he told me.

I sighed. Elliot was an amazing speech writer. He had a way with words and he liked to use that skill on me. However, if he did know more about Mr. Williams, he could write a better speech about him than me no matter how well he wrote. Besides, it would free up some of my time.

"I'll ask him to do it when he gets back," I said. "I have other things I need to get done as well.

I went to get up and leave, but my father motioned for me to sit back down. "Hang on. If you keep doing everything, we'll all be out of a job, and I still got years to go. Some of the advisors are dying for a job. Why don't you give them some things to do even if they are small?"

"But I'm perfectly capable of doing them," I said. I was clearly as stubborn as my mother and grandfather.

My father sighed. "I know you are, but you have to understand that people won't look down upon you if you ask for a little help. All good leaders ask for help if they need it. It's a trait that people look for in a good ruler."

I took his advice then, but even after that moment I was still wary of asking for help.

"Melody..."

I tried to remember what the next thing he told me was, but his voice and the memory was soon gone.

"Melody, can you hear us?" It was Alex's voice now.

"She must have really hit her head hard." That was Shona.

I suddenly became aware of the throbbing in my head. I must have hit my head like Shona said. Then, I remembered the current and how I couldn't regain my control after being thrown out. Slowly, I opened my eyes to see Alex and Shona hovering over me. I put a hand to my head and turned my head to the side with a wince on my face. Even the ocean couldn't stop the sunlight from being too bright. To my right I saw that Caden was behind them with what looked like a guilty look on his face, but also one that said that he was relieved.

"Ouch," I sat up with Shona's help.

"You flew out of the current and ramped into the side of that rock cliff," Alex informed me.

"Are you okay?" Shona asked.

"I'm fine," I said. "My head hurts a little, but I'll survive. Let's go."

"Are you sure you don't need to rest?" Alex asked. "You should be careful."

I sighed. I didn't need rest. A little headache could never stop me. What I needed was to go find the scepter and I was ready for this journey to start for real now.

"I'm fine, but we all won't be if the Sorceress gets to the scepter," I said. "Where are we?"

Alex responded. "The far right side of the currents. The good news is that we don't have to swim through it anymore."

"So I knocked us off track?"

"It can't be much," Shona replied. "I mean, if it is, then we swim a bit more. No big deal."

"She's right. This actually might work out for the best. From here we should be able to proceed to the isolated sea, but we'll be able to stay along the outskirts of it. It'll keep us from getting lost and hopefully from running into anything," Alex explained.

"And if you're sure you're ready, we should probably go," Shona said.

I nodded and got up. A smile almost creeped onto my face as we took off again. I guess not all mistakes turn out bad. This could actually help is make it through the Isolated Seas.

Caden then approached me after being unusually quiet during the last talk.

"Hey, I'm sorry about what I said back there. I didn't mean any of it," Caden told me.

I was surprised by his apology. While I knew that he should apologize, I didn't think he would apologize so quickly. That's not what the rest of the princes had done after saying cruel things to me. Of course, Caden wasn't like the rest of the princes I had met. He had lived the hardships of a normal citizen which make him approach his leadership abilities differently than most and I think that was why he viewed himself as not worthy of the crown

"It's fine. I completely understand your lashing out. You must be really stressed about this whole deal as much as I am. I mean, I just get answers, but your whole life will change if you get the scepter," I replied.

"But it wasn't fair. You obviously need help since this is all new to you. I just don't like people depending on me." He explained.

"Well, I don't like having to depend on people. I'm don't want people to think that I'm too needy," I said.

After a long pause Caden told me, "Well, it seems like that's the perfect situation for us to help each other out. So how bout it? You help me get used to people depending on me and I help you get used to asking people for help? Royal to Royal?"

"It's a deal," I nodded in agreement. It was a pretty good idea. We both had weaknesses that we needed to get rid of before we became rulers and we both had the ability to help each other.

We all proceeded to the Isolated Seas in silent. I guess no one had much to say, but that was okay. The quiet helped to subside the pounding in my head. That and the thought that everything could be okay. It wouldn't be long before we made it to Caracena and perhaps my future as queen wouldn't be as bad as I thought.


	16. Chapter 15: Triton's Story

**Chapter 15: Triton's Story**

"But you know what happened to my grandfather, don't you? I know he didn't just die. That's _not_ like him," I asked John. He had told me so much stuff about my grandfather that I enjoyed hearing just as much, but there was that one thing I was dying to hear.

"I believe I do. He wouldn't have told me everything if he didn't wanted me to tell someone what _really_ happened."

* * *

 _John took a long pause before beginning his story:_

This all happened long before the years that he spent distant from me. It starts not so long after your grandparents were married.

It was such a sad thing to watch your grandfather go through. He had married the love of his life and things were looking perfect for him, but then they took a sudden turn to the worst when the Sorceress struck again.

He had maybe a month of happiness when she once again gained support—although I personally wouldn't call it support. She may have easily used her magic to force people to work for her—but they invaded the palace in Atlantica nonetheless under her command. Your grandfather said that it seemed like their only target was his family.

They killed his parents and no one else. Thankfully, some guards had managed to get your grandparents to a secure location and stopped the invaders, but not without the damage being done.

Your grandfather was suddenly ruler of Atlantica and needed time to grieve. I hope that I helped him get through things a little, but luckily he had your grandmother to support him and she supported him till the day she died.

Once the sadness washed away, he moved on with his life. He became an even better king than his father and grandfather, and he and Athena decided to start a family of their very own. Your grandfather did all of this without hesitation, but he still kept a watch out for the Sorceress to return.

And it's a good thing he did because she did.

It wasn't that long after your eldest aunt, Attina, was born. The Sorceress snuck back into Atlantica, set on only confronting your grandfather. It was strange how she did it though. It appeared like she had grown tired of strictly trying to kill right away and simply wanted to have a little fun with her prey.

Your grandfather was going over some last minute work in his office before calling it a night when he heard the Sorceress's voice.

"Well, this was easier than I thought it would be. You really should get some better guards. I shouldn't be able to just swim into your office like that. They must be slacking on their jobs."

Your grandfather was alarmed and rose from his seat. "What will it take for you to leave my family alone? _Please_. Haven't you done enough damage?"

"No," she laughed. "I have some unfinished business to attend to and you know what it is. I have you to kill thanks to your ungrateful grandfather. Plus, I hear there's another heir to target now, but I won't get you both at once. I have to pick you off one by one. Won't that terrify your wife?"

Now, I'm sure you knew your grandfather very well. He couldn't care what happened to him. He just wanted his family to be safe.

"You can do whatever you want to me. Just please don't harm my daughter or Athena." By now your grandfather had made his way over to a sword that was hanging on the wall. "I'll do anything you want. Give you anything you want."

"I guess I could ask to be pardoned, or for money and a chance to escape, or for a pleasurable night in bed. Maybe even a nice position in the royal court, but where's the fun in that?" the Sorceress said.

It was then that your grandfather said she turned her back towards him and he carefully went and picked up the sword.

"I'm a persistent woman, _King_ Triton, and I am set on my goals." As she was saying this your grandfather began to raise his sword to strike down on her.

"I insist of being the one to make your family pay since it all did start with your grandfather. I want every descendant of his to pay until there are no more. Then, with no more left, I guess I just might take the throne."

Just as your grandfather swam forward and went to stab her in the back, she spun around and with a simple flick of her wrist knocked the sword right out of his hands. "And you're not going to stop me from reaching that goal!"

Your grandfather was shocked and swam back a few paces.

"Now, Triton. You should know that it will take more than that to kill me. Not even your trident is powerful enough to. Maybe if your grandfather had used it back when he had the chance and I was weaker it would have worked, but I'm a lot stronger now. Your grandfather was such a fool," she laughed.

"I know he was," your grandfather confessed. "If I was him, I would have killed you without a second thought."

"Well, maybe you'll get another chance. We've raised enough commotion as is and I'm sure your wife is wondering what's taking you so long, so I'll leave. Come looking for me if you dare. It won't take a dragon's eye to find me," the Sorceress told him before making her exit.

Your grandfather said he never told your grandmother or anyone else about the encounter. Not even me right away. He didn't want to alarm anyone and was sure that he could protect his family himself.

Three months later he had a plan to end the Sorceress the best way he could. Your grandfather knew that he couldn't kill her even with the trident, but she wouldn't be immune to all of its powers. There was one he hoped would work.

As it turned out, the Sorceress _wanted_ your grandfather to find her. The "dragon's eye" she had mentioned to him was apparently a cave on the outskirts of Atlantica, where she was hiding.

Your grandfather told me that he kissed your grandmother and aunt before he left, as he was feeling quite uncertain about the whole deal, but he was determined to go down fighting. As he approached the cave, he only felt more worried.

"Sorceress!" he boomed. "Come out! I know you're in there!"

"Took you long enough. I was wondering when you'd come around. Would you like to come in? I haven't had a house guest in a long time," she had called back from within the cave.

"Come out! I'm not playing any games with you this time!" he responded.

As the Sorceress came out, he saw a blue light from within. Your grandfather gripped his trident harder as he cautiously moved forward, prepared to start his plan.

"Neither am I!" she called out as she threw her magic at him. The blue light quickly traveled towards your grandfather and struck him. However, he was surprised that he didn't feel any of the effects

He continued on with his plan forgetting about that for a moment. The trident obeyed his command and its powers shot out and held onto the Sorceress as she finally made her way out of the cave.

"I'm done with you! What did you do?!" he asked.

* * *

"Well, what happened?" I asked John. Surely there was more to the story. There had to be more!

"Your grandfather trapped her into the cave with his trident. He sealed her in so she can't escape. She's still there to this day. Your mother even had an encounter with her," John told me.

"But what happened to my grandfather?"

John replied, "She put a curse on him."

It clicked in my head. The Sorceress. This curse. It all related to my grandfather's death. "What did the curse do?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? Didn't my grandfather tell you?" I asked.

John rose from his seat. "No, I'm afraid he didn't. All he told me was that she cursed him. He also told me about her scepter. It somehow correlates to all this. He said he tried finding it, but was unsuccessful."

I sighed. "Thank you so much for your help. I can't tell you how much this information means to me."

John headed towards the door but not before giving me a ring. "He told me to give this to you and to tell you to be careful. It can turn you into a mermaid. He only told me all this maybe five years ago. He knew that you would need answers after he was gone."

I thought for a moment as I made the connection. Five years ago is when he promised to be there for me. Maybe he had wanted to keep his promise, but couldn't.

Before walking out the door John told me one last thing. "Melody, your grandfather loved you very much. Probably more than you understand."

"No, I understand," I quietly replied, more to myself than to him.


	17. Chapter 16: Trouble in the Isolated Sea

**Chapter 16: Trouble in the Isolated Sea**

The Isolated Sea was huge. That was for sure.

We stuck near the edge of where there was still minimum life like small fish and plants from time to time, but from what I could tell, it really was a barren ocean floor towards the middle of the sea. No plants or animals would live there. I wondered why it was like that.

"Is there _anything_ that lives in here? The book said that there are some creatures that do wander it," I asked.

"I'm not sure. I've never been in here," Caden said. "The book did mention Octopians and sharks, though, but I don't know why they would be in here. There's nothing for them. I think that's just a myth to scare people."

"But there is a chance that it could be true because they might need to travel through to get from place to place," Alex said. "But I doubt they'd be put at this time of day."

"Okay, then this should be a piece of cake," I was relieved that there wouldn't be much trouble.

"How long will it take to get through this?" Shona asked. "And how long will take to find the scepter?"

Caden looked at me and then answered the first part. "It won't be much further. Just a little bit longer."

"And I'm hoping we'll find the scepter soon," I continues. "I don't think the Sorceress knows where it is yet. From the stories I've heard of her, she's known for making some bad decisions and for not being so smart."

"Melody, how do you plan on finding it? For all we know, Asterwen could be left in massive ruins. We don't know how big it was. There could be tons of places for it to be hidden," Alex told me.

"Yes, I'm aware, Alex," I responded. "I'm hoping that it won't be that hard to find."

Honestly, I had no idea of how to actually find it. I only thought about getting to Asterwen and getting the scepter. Not struggling to find it or learning that it's not there.

"But what if we do run into the Sorceress?" Caden asked.

That I had forced myself to not think about. It would certainly be the worst case scenario. I had no idea how we would handle that.

"I'm hoping we won't. If we do, we'll figure something out," I said. If I didn't have a clue what to do, Caden or someone just might.

"For now," Shona started, "can we just try and not swim into her?"

"Absolutely," Caden said.

* * *

"What do you plan to do once you gain your throne?" I asked Caden out of curiosity. Given his situation, I was wondering how he would approach things.

The long lost prince smiled at me. "You know, I thought about that for a long time, and I'm glad that I might be close to being able to get to do something. First, I need to free Easton. Then once everything is settled, I am going to make sure that the palace staff gets better conditions and pay because Shona tells me that they're both really poor. Then, I also want to make sure that the poor people will be able to get back on their fins easily with help of some sort and put up a better education system. My mother loved kids and believed very strongly in good education for every kid. She said that if she were to gain rule, that would have been her first step."

I smiled. It was refreshing to hear a royal who had such great reform ideas. "Caden, those are wonderfully ideas! But how do you plan on accomplishing them?"

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Well, you have to be careful transferring money from one area to another. You have to make sure it's enough money to make the program work properly, but you also have to make sure that where you're taking it from still has enough money, too. You also have to plan exactly how you're going to do it like which method you're going to use," I advised him.

"Oh, wow," he sighed. "It's going to be a little harder than I thought."

I placed a hand on his shoulder. "It will, but that's why you have trusted people to… to help you along the way."

So my father was right all along. Maybe a ruler does need trusted people and help.

He smiled at me taking in my words. "You know, Mel. You really will make a great queen."

"Thanks," I replied. That really made me smiled.

"Hey, Caden!" Alex called out. "Do you know when we'll be out? I feel like we've managed to get lost."

"I doubt we are lost. They say the Isolated Sea does that to you. It makes you feel like you're lost when you're not. We should be out soon," Caden replied.

"Okay," Alex said. There was something in his voice that sounded like he really wanted to get out.

I slowed my swimming to fall back with him. "Well, you seem anxious to get out of here. What's wrong?"

He considered something before responding. "I don't know. It just feels like something is… I don't know… watching us."

"Don't be silly, Alex. You said it yourself. Nothing should be-"

"Shh! Did you guys hear that?" Caden asked us.

We listened to the sound of the ocean, but heard nothing.

"There's nothing there, Caden," Shona told him.

He shook his head not believing her. I had no idea what he had heard, but he must have sworn he heard something, although I really doubted him. Despite being in the middle of nowhere, I was sure it was possible to just have heard the current or maybe a fish that was nearby.

"Get them!"

We were suddenly hearing voices coming out of nowhere. Frozen, we stayed motionless in fear trying to spot the culprits' direction. Then, we saw shadows in front of us heading right towards us.

"Don't tell me those are the Octopians!" Shona exclaimed.

"They are. Swim!" Caden announced and we started heading back the way we came.

We had just swam a few paces when we spotted them coming from that directions. And from the left. And also from the right of.

And just like that we were surrounded by the vicious Octopians.


	18. Chapter 17: Teamwork

**Chapter 17: Teamwork**

"What do you suppose they're do to us?" I heard Shona ask Caden.

He shrugged. "I don't know. They don't really go out and cause trouble anymore. They wait for people to come across them, like us, but not many people do way out here."

"Let's hope that we can escape before we have the chance to find out what they'll do," I said. Every moment we were stuck here trapped by the Octopians was a moment we lost to find the scepter.

"But how are we going to escape?" Caden asked, fiddling with the bars of the cell. They weren't made with any special type of metals, but with some type of sea material. Perhaps with force they could be opened, but we would never make it past the guard outside our cell and past the others nearby to escape.

"We'll just have to distract them once we figure out a way out," Alex suggested.

Shona spoke up, "Aren't Octopians known for arguing?"

Alex nodded. "Maybe we can get a fight started among them. Melody, say something that will get them upset."

I sighed. I knew nothing about these creatures, but I probably could get a fight started among them. "Fine," I started to call for the Octopian guarding our cell. "Hey! Excuse me!"

He turned around, aiming his spear at us. "What do you lot what?"

"I just wish to speak to the leader. We have to right to know exactly why we're being held captive," I said.

"Fine," he agreed. "Hey, boss! They want to talk to you."

The leader stopped his conversation with the Octopian he was speaking with and faced us. "I don't have time for talking. Why don't you just be quiet for now?"

"Oh!" I acted surprised. "Sorry, I didn't think _you_ were their leader. I would have expected it to be _him_." I gestured to the one he was talking to.

"Me?" he pointed at himself.

I nodded. "Yeah, you look much stronger and smarter than him."

"I am? Yeah! I am!" he exclaimed.

'Enough!" the leader exploded. "I'm the one in charge here so both of you just knock it off." He swam over to us. "What you want!"

"Hang on," the other one interjected. "Just why are you in charge?"

"Yeah," said another. "Why?"

Others chimed in asking the same question. From there, I didn't have to say anything else. Alex shot me good job smile.

He growled in frustration before turning around, starting off in a loud voice to catch their attention. "Because it's a role that gets passed down to the strongest warrior and that happened to be me when our last leader passed. No one is supposed to question it."

"Well, no one around here likes your rule, so I guess we'll have to prove that you aren't the strongest."

There were yells for them to fight, each shouting who they wanted to win. The leader swam closer to the challenger. "Fine, but you better hope that you end up dead after all of this, because your punishment for this won't be light."

The guard left to have a closer view. Alex and Caden quickly swam up to the bars and began prying them apart. I nervously kept looking at them and then back at the Octopians. They seemed so caught up in the fight that it would be unlikely that they would notice us, but it could always happen. Thankfully, they managed to pry the weak bars apart far enough so we could swim out.

"Hurry," Shona urged. "We'll leave that way," she pointed out. The boys nodded and then followed behind us out of the cell.

We bolted out of sight, racing far away from their encampment. "Keep swimming till we're a safe distance away," I said.

I looked behind and smiled. So far, they weren't following us. We had worked well back there, like a team. I felt proud with the fact that I had successfully accomplished something with the help of other people. My father was trying so hard to make me understand that to be a successful ruler, you had to ask for help sometimes–that you can't do everything on your own, and I couldn't have done this on my own. I think that's the moment I truly realized that.

Alex then stopped swimming. "We should be safe. They're not following us."

"Thank Neptune," Shona said, relieved and catching her breath, but then she gasped. It startled me, making me think that the Octopians were back, but then I saw that she was looking at something.

"Are they the ruins we are looking for?" she asked.

Caden nodded. "That has to be Asterwen."

* * *

Upon entering the ruins, we were all certain that it was Asterwen. It was old, very old, and in complete ruins. Not one building was fully standing, and they certainly had no habitants.

"This place is huge. We should split up. Caden and Shona start to look over there. Alex, we'll start over here," I said.

They agreed and we started the search that Caden and I had eagerly awaited. If we manage to get the scepter, he could regain his throne and help his people and I could get the answers I needed from the Sorceress,

Asterwen was once a huge kingdom. Ruins laid everywhere providing many hiding places for the Scepter. Alex and I looked up and down in old houses and market stalls, but it was nowhere to be found.

The palace also was still partially standing. With parts of it still standing tall, it looked to have been very grand before the Sorceress had betrayed the kingdom. It sparked my curiosity.

"Hey, maybe we should check inside the palace," I suggested.

Alex shook his head. "We will, but we shouldn't skip over these few buildings. We have to check everywhere."

I sighed. We swam up to another piece of ruin. It didn't look as intriguing as the palace and I couldn't wait. "I'll check over there," I pointed at the pile of rubble next to it.

Alex looked at me, but agreed, saying that we should stay close, but it would help search faster. I swam to the palace and inside I saw nothing at first, until I swam down a hall. It took me to a massive room. Upon further examination I discovered it to be the throne room. The throne still stood in the middle.

I gasped as next to the throne, in its original resting place, stood the scepter.


	19. Chapter 18: Answers, Decoys, and Rubble

**Chapter 18: Answers, Decoys, and Rubble**

The scepter was in my sight and I couldn't believe it. I swam forward, my right hand reaching out for the scepter as it as it became into reach. Suddenly, before I could grab it, something grabbed onto my left.

It pulled me around and that's when I realized that it was the Sorceress who had a hold of me. I struggled to get out of her grasp but it was no use as she only held me tighter, hurting me more and more. "Let me go," I ordered.

She laughed. "Not yet but, thank you for finding my scepter. I've been looking all over for it."

"It's not yours anymore," I lunged forward, trying to grab it, but she yanked me back and grabbed it herself, her hands taking a firm hold around its smooth, golden handle.

The blue center of the scepter lit up in her hands, but the light emitted was very dim, fading out as soon as it came. It jerked a little in the Sorceress's hands, but she stared it down and it was almost as it gave into her. "But it is mine. It's always been mine," she said. "I lost it for a while, and it's taken me forever to find it, no thanks to Triton sealing me into that cave like that, but now I can finish what I started."

"Triton's dead now. He was my grandfather," I informed her. He was a grandfather, a father, and a beloved king, but she showed no mercy. She didn't care that somehow she had taken him from us.

She smirked. "I know, _Melody_. I still heard things while trapped in that cave. I heard that his youngest daughter had married a human. That she had given birth to a princess names Melody. I heard all that fuss Morgana had caused and then heard that he had died."

"But why?" I asked. I had come for the answers I wanted, and I was going to get them. "What did you do to him? I know you cursed him, but he never told anyone what the curse was."

The Sorceress grew tired of holding on to me. She let got and instead kept the scepter pointed at me, daring me to try and leave. "And I suppose you want to know. I was using him to help me find my scepter of course! It's hard, searching for something when you can't be found as well. It would be much easier for him to find it for me, but he wouldn't voluntarily do it. I knew that. I had to give him a reason to find it. He was given 44 years to find my scepter and return it to me, or else, he would die."

"Why 44?" I asked. To me it seemed like a long time to give. It had left him live a long life after all.

"Quite truthfully, that was just a random number I thought of, but actually turned out to be perfect. It gave him plenty of time to find it and him plenty of time to make him wait for and dread the day he would die. He knew when it would come, and he did try to stop it. Glowfish told me he searched and searched, but he never found it. Perhaps he would have, if only he kept up the search. He came by one day, fifteen years ago telling me he had fully given up," she explained.

Part of me felt upset that my grandfather had given up and just accepted the fact that one day he would leave us, but I also knew that it was probably was for the best. My grandfather's curse would only have been broken if he gave her the scepter, and he knew that. Perhaps he didn't give up because he couldn't find it, but because he knew she couldn't be trusted with it.

"But alas," she continued. "Your prince friend found it. He needs it as much as your grandfather did. He just wants his curse gone and-"

"Melody!" It was Alex. "I told you we should stay together. Besides, the scepter isn't in here. Caden and Shona found it!"

The Sorceress and I both looked at the scepter in her hands. "Alex! The Sorceress!" I called out, trying to warn him, but he swam into the room, surprised by the presence of the Sorceress and even more by the second scepter. There wasn't supposed to be two of them. The Sorceress pointed the scepter at Alex, who held his hands up in defense, but suddenly the scepter vanished.

Shocked, the Sorceress looked down at her hands where the scepter once was. She looked angrily at me and then back at Alex. It seemed as if she was about to go and find Caden, but he and Shona had just swam into the old throne room with the scepter in his hands. Shona gasped once she saw the Sorceress, but Caden determinedly pointed the scepter at the Sorceress. He had the real one. The other one was just a decoy.

"This time, you're going to give me my scepter. You still want that curse broken, don't you?" she tried to persuade Caden.

Caden swam forward a little bit. "Or I could break the curse by stopping you."

I was well aware that the Sorceress was still very powerful even without the scepter. She swam closer to Caden and I feared that she would do something to him. I rushed forward and yanked her hair back. She screamed in pain as Caden tried to use the opportunity to use the scepter on her, but he missed as she moved to face me.

"Guys!" I screamed, swimming towards them. The Sorceress shot something at me, just missing my tail. Caden tried again and yet again was unsuccessful. I knew at one point I was I was in his shot, but quickly I arrived next to them and Caden was able to blast her into a wall. There, she laid motionless, surrounded by some debris that fell from the impact.

"We have to get away from her," Alex suggested.

Caden shook his head. "We have to stop her first." It was true. As long as she was alive she was a threat and Caden's family curse would never be broken.

"Can you do that a few more times?" Shona asked.

"I have no clue what I'm even doing with this. I've barely used it."

"Well, its more experience than any of us have," I said. "And I believe in you."

He smiled and nodded, pointing the scepter out towards the Sorceress as he moved halfway closer, but unexpectedly the Sorceress shot up. A bolt of light was sent out of the scepter, but it didn't hit her. She had held up her hand, throwing it to the side, hitting nothing but another part of the palace.

"Well that's not very fair, prince boy, hitting a girl while she's down," she taunted. 'Why don't you stop now and give me the scepter. I know how to play fair."

"No," Caden insisted. "You've come to the point where you need to be stopped."

"Oh isn't that sweet. He wants to be a hero. What do you think your people want? An arrogant hero who killed to get his crown or a properly trained king?"

"Don't listen to her," I warned Caden. He was so much better that the current king of Caracena because he cared, and that's what his people needed.

The Sorceress laughed, making a gesture with her hand to come. The simple gesture had felt like she had taken a hold of us, without a real grasp on us. We couldn't move and she threw us back against the wall behind us.

A huge piece of it landed not too far away from us. I sat up, rubbing my head, to see that Caden had lost grip of the scepter, it must have flown out of his hands and now into the Sorceress's. "All too easy," she commented. "I just have to stop all of you, and then I can take my business to Atlantica."

But perhaps she spoke too soon. In her hands, the scepter resisted and unlike the fake one, continued to fight to make her drop it. Both hands on it, she tried to rein it in, but it fought harder until there was a bright light and just like that, it was back in its resting place.

Frustrated, the Sorceress yelled at us, "What did you do?"

Caden shrugged. He hadn't done anything.

She swam up to the scepter to pick it back up, but it wouldn't budge from its place. She pulled harder and harder, but failed each time. Growing more agitated, she began hitting it and throwing her dark magic at it. With each strike, it still stood as strong as ever, showing no signs of any damage, but I couldn't say that about the palace. Rubble from what was left of the floors above continued to fall, piece by piece, and more each time.

"We have to leave," I ordered. It wasn't safe in there.

"But what about the scepter?" Shona asked.

"Don't worry about it right now," Caden said as we raced towards the exit.

By then, the Sorceress had taken notice of her damage and began moving towards the exit too. We were already out of the throne room when a piece fell in front of the closest exit for her. It would be unlikely for her to make it out, but at least we did. We swam out of a hole in the side of the palace just as it collapsed totally.


	20. Epilogue: Part 1

**Epilogue: Part 1**

For the moments after the palace came tumbling down, we simply stared at it, just waiting for the Sorceress to come out of the rubble. With her strength, it was possible that she could have protected herself, but after a few more moments, there still was no movement. When we were escaping, it did look as though she was caught off guard by the collapsing palace so perhaps she hadn't had time to properly react.

I looked at Caden. There was a light beneath the seaweed wrap her wore on his arm. "What's happening?" I asked.

He took off the wrap. Beneath it was what appeared to be a birthmark. It resembled no shape, but I figured it meant something.

"This is the birthmark that gets past down the royal family. I had to keep it hidden, or else I would be recognized," he explained.

"Caden, you can reclaim your throne now!" Shona exclaimed happily, throwing her arms around him in a hug, which he happily accepted. "Look!" she pointed behind him.

I don't know how no one had taken notice of it yet, but there on the ground laid the scepter, perfectly undamaged.

* * *

"I'm going to ask you again. What were your friends doing in my castle, and where are they now?!"

That was followed by the sound of someone getting hit forcefully. Caden promptly burst through the door. "I order you to let my friend, Easton, go!"

The King of Caracena and his men were trying to get information about us out of Easton by beating him, but Easton had never sold us out. King Conway and his men stopped, all eyes on us and Caden.

He laughed. "And who are _you_ to give _me_ orders?"

Caden showed him his birthmark. "The rightful heir to the throne of Caracena."

* * *

Conway tried to call Caden a fake or irrelevant, but his men believed him. In fact, they were _willing_ to get rid of their abusive king.

Caden sent Conway to live away from Caracena, but still to live a comfortable life. That way, the former king could not complain about anything.

Easton was not seriously harmed and any injuries he suffered would heal within time.

I told Caden to keep the scepter. He didn't need it anymore, but I told him he was the best person to keep it and make sure it stayed out of the wrong hands. Besides, it seemed like it liked Caden.

* * *

"So, _King_ Caden. What is the first official act you want to do as king?" Shona had asked Caden.

He smiled. "Well, I think the first thing I want to do is fire you as a maid here."

Shona looked taken aback and confused, but I had a good idea of where he was heading.

"From now on _I'll_ be taken care of _you_. I want you to say with me in the palace. That is, if you want to," he said.

I looked at Alex. The smile on Shona's face satisfied both of us.

"Oh, Caden. Thank you!" And then they kissed.

"I've waited forever for that to happen," Easton whispered to Alex and me.

* * *

"Thanks for telling me you believed in me back there with the Sorceress and all," Caden thanked me.

"Your welcome."

"And just so you know, I believe in you, too. You'll make a great queen," he told me.

I smiled. "Yeah. I think so, too."


	21. Epilogue: Part 2

**Epilogue: Part 2**

 _10 years later…_

I never imagined I would be excited for my coronation day, but I was. I couldn't wait to prove to everyone that I could rule as a strong queen.

Of course, nervousness swamped me that day, but Elliot helped so much, and so did our two children. My parents also gave me encouraging words. For most of the time spent together, my parents had all the burden and stress from their queen and kingly duties. They never fully had time to relax with each other, but now I was giving them the chance to.

Upon my arrival back from the journey to Asterwen, I told my family the truth of what happened to my grandfather. They believed me and accepted it, claiming that that sounded just like my grandfather.

My parents and Elliot were also worried about me while I was gone since I barely told them anything in my note, but in the end, they were glad I discovered the truth, but no one was happier to learn the truth than I was.

Once he told me that all things happen for a reason, and this is proof of that.

I never had the easiest time accepting that I would become queen and some people didn't make that easy to do, but in the end, it made me stronger and a better queen.

The journey I had to go through to discover the reason of his death had helped me learn the lessons that would aid me in my rule.

Even though I still upset that my grandfather couldn't be there to see me as queen, I think everything life threw at me made me value his words even more.

And in the end, even though I didn't get to spend as much time with him, I was glad to have had such a wise and caring grandfather. But then again, even though my time with him is over, his wisdom, kindness, strength, and presence was with me forever.

 **The End**


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